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KING  OF  THE  AIR 


BY  HERBERT  STRANG 


IN  CLIVE'S  COMMAND 
Illustrated  by  William  Rainey 

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FIGHTING  ON  THE  CONGO 
Illustrated  by  William  Rainey 

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JACK  HARDY 

Illustrated  by  William  Rainey 

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ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  ARABS 
Illustrated  by         Charles  M.  Sheldon 
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ROB  THE  RANGER 
Illustrated  in  Color  by  W.  H.  Margetson 
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ON  THE  SPANISH  MAIN 
Illustrated  by  Arch  Webb 

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THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 
INDIANAPOLIS 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Or 

TO  MOROCCO  ON  AN  'AIRSHIP 


By 

HERBERT    STRANG 


With  Illustrations  by; 
W.  E.  WEBSTER 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT  1907 
THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 


NOVEMBER 


PRESS  OF 

BRAUNWORTH  &  CO- 

BOOKBINDERS  AND  PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN,   N.  Y. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  »AG1 

I  MR.  GREATOREX  is  ASTONISHED    .......      i 

II.    HERR  SCHWAB II 

III  TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 23 

IV  A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR .    38 

V     OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 48 

VI     SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 64 

VII     THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 78 

VIII    THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 94 

IX     A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 109 

X.    THE  KASBAH 121 

XI     PRISON  BREAKERS 137 

XII    A  HITCH 150 

XIII.  DIPLOMACY      . 162 

XIV.  THE  TROGLODYTE 181 

XV.    VIEW  HALLOO! 194 

XVI    ICARUS 207 

XVII    COMPLIMENTS  AND  THANKS 319 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 


•M 


CHAPTER  I 

MR.    GREATOREX   IS    ASTONISHED 

Mr.  John  Greatorex  .was  very  wealthy,  and  very 
obstinate.  He  had  made  a  large  fortune  as  a  manu- 
facturer of  chemicals,  but  disclaimed  any  knowledge  of 
chemistry.  He  had  dabbled  a  little  in  mechanics,  and 
was  convinced  that  he  possessed  an  accurate  practical 
knowledge  of  its  applications.  Consequently,  when 
his  new  motor-car  arrived,  he  saw  no  necessity  to  take 
a  chauffeur  with  him  on  its  trial  spin.  He  was  like 
a  child  with  a  new  toy,  jealous  of  participation. 

"  My  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Greatorex,  as  she  handed 
him  his  motor  goggles,  "are  you  sure  you  will  not 
take  Timothy?  What  if  it  breaks  down?" 

"  My  love"  said  Mr.  Greatorex  in  his  emphatic 
way,  "  I  do  not  want  Timothy.  It  will  not  break 
down.  If  it  does,  I  flatter  myself  I  am  competent  to 
make  any  necessary  repairs.  I  shall  be  back  at  seven- 
thirty  —  in  good  time  for  dinner ;  and  I  hope  and 
trust  the  soup  will  not  be  cold." 

He  gave  a  preliminary  honk!  honk!  looking  round 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

with  a  smile  that  plainly  said,  "  There !  you  see  that 
everything  is  in  order!"  Then  he  steered  the  ma- 
chine accurately  down  the  drive  to  the  road. 

His  house  lying  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  Mr. 
Greatorex  did  not  fear  to  meet  mile-stones  in  the 
shape  of  policemen  with  stop  watches,  who  would  take 
his  number  and  afterward  confront  him  in  court.  In 
a  minute  or  two  the  car  was  whirling  along  the  road 
at  a  rate  which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  gravely  exceeded 
the  speed  limit.  All  went  merry  as  a  marriage-bell, 
and  Mr.  Greatorex  was  at  the  height  of  exhilaration 
and  satisfaction,  when,  just  as  he  was  mounting  the 
acclivity  of  Five  Oaks  bridge,  without  even  a  click  in 
warning,  the  machine  came  to  a  dead  stop.  Mr. 
Greatorex  put  the  engine  out  of  gear,  then  tried  to 
start  it  by  turning  the  starting  handle ;  but  finding  this 
of  no  avail  he  clapped  on  the  brake,  skipped  out  of  the 
car,  removed  his  goggles  and  his  gloves,  and  set  about 
making  an  examination. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge,  sitting  on  the  bank 
of  the  stream,  was  a  boy,  gazing  with  round  eyes  at 
a  float  that  hung  from  a  line  attached  to  a  long  home- 
made rod  of  yew.  He  had  heard  the  clatter  of  the 
motor-car  as  it  came  along  the  road;  he  was  aware 
that  the  noise  had  suddenly  ceased;  but,  being  a  lad 
of  great  concentration,  he  did  not  give  a  thought  to 
what  was  happening  out  of  sight  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  bridge.  He  had  come  out  for  an  afternoon's  fish- 
ing ;  two  or  three  fat  carp  lay  beside  him  on  the  bank ; 
and  noticing  at  this  moment  a  slight  movement  of  the 

2 


MR.  GREATOREX  IS  ASTONISHED 

float,  he  was  soon  oblivious  of  everything  except  the 
fish  on  his  hook. 

Half  an  hour  passed.  Three  more  fish  had  re- 
warded his  patience;  then,  satisfied  with  his  catch,  the 
boy  rose,  methodically  wound  up  his  line,  and,  leaving 
reel,  rod,  and  basket  on  the  bank,  walked  up  on  to 
the  bridge  to  investigate  the  meaning  of  sundry 
strange  noises  he  had  heard  vaguely,  in  the  intervals 
between  the  bites. 

As  he  gained  the  foot  of  the  bridge,  where  a  mo- 
tor-car stood  somewhat  askew  across  the  road,  he 
caught  sight  of  a  pair  of  brown  boots  projecting  from 
beneath  the  machine.  Nothing  but  the  boots  was  visi- 
ble; but  they  moved,  and  it  was  clear  that  they  shod 
the  feet  of  some  living  person,  for  there  came  puffs 
and  grunts  and  explosive  monosyllables  resembling 
those  he  had  sometimes  heard  on  the  golf-links  near 
his  home. 

The  boy  leaned  against  the  parapet,  stuck  his  hands 
into  his  pockets,  and  watched.  By  and  by  there  was 
an  ejaculation  of  peculiar  vehemence;  the  boots  moved 
out  into  the  road,  followed  by  a  pair  of  gray-trousered 
legs,  a  soiled  and  rumpled  motor  coat,  and  a  very  red 
and  dirty  face;  the  boy  took  especial  note  of  a  black 
patch  in  the  very  center  of  a  shiny  skull. 

Puffing  and  blowing,  Mr.  Greatorex  crawled  from 
under  his  new  car,  and  stood  upon  his  feet  —  a  rather 
disreputable-looking  object,  staring  wrathfully  at  the 
offending  car.  He  had  not  perceived  the  small  spec- 
tator. 

3 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"Wish  I  had  brought  Timothy!"  he  muttered. 
"  Confound  the  brute !  " 

He  looked  at  his  grimy  hands,  at  his  mud-stained 
clothes,  up  the  road,  down  the  road,  and  finally  at  the 
boy,  who  had  at  last  made  an  impression  on  his  retina. 

"Hi,  boy!"  he  said. 

The  boy  approached,  with  a  shy  smile.  Mr.  Great- 
orex  scowled,  conscious  of  his  plight. 

"  Boy,  tell  me,  and  don't  grin,  is  there  a  smith  any- 
where in  this  neighborhood  ?  " 

"  In  the  village  sure,  Measter." 

"  Where  is  the  village?  " 

"About  three  miles  away,  over  yonder." 

"  God  bless  me !  Three  miles !  Well,  look  here, 
boy,  I'll  give  you  sixpence  to  run  there  and  send  the 
smith  back  —  behind  a  horse,  on  a  bicycle,  anyhow  — 
to  mend  this  confounded  machine.  I'm  twenty  miles 
away  from  home,  you  understand,  and  I  shall  be  late 
for  dinner.  I'll  make  it  a  shilling  if  the  smith  is  here 
within  an  hour." 

The  boy  looked  up  into  the  wrathful  face  and  smiled 
again.  f 

"  Would  'ee  like  me  to  mend  un  for  'ee  ?  'Twould 
save  time." 

Mr.  Greatorex  stared. 

"  You  mend  it?     Ton  my  word!  " 

And  then  he  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter  which 
carried  away  his  ill-humor,  for  Mr.  Greatorex  was 
usually  a  very  good-tempered  person. 

The  situation  was,  in  truth,  amusing.     The  boy  was 

4 


MR.  GREATOREX  IS  ASTONISHED 

a  little  fellow  under  four  feet  high.  He  had  a  round 
chubby  face,  not  free  from  stains.  He  wore  corduroy 
breeches  much  too  large  for  him,  big  clumping  boots, 
and  a  flannel  shirt  open  at  the  neck.  His  blue  eyes 
peeped  up  from  beneath  a  large,  soft,  much  discolored 
straw  hat.  And  this  little  urchin  had  actually  offered 
to  mend  a  motor-car  with  which  Mr.  Greatorex,  with 
all  his  knowledge  of  mechanism,  had  been  struggling 
for  half  an  hour  in  vain ! 

Mr.  Greatorex  laughed  again. 

"  Come,  cut  along,  youngster,"  he  said  genially. 
"  Let  me  see  how  fast  you  can  run." 

"I'll  mend  un  if  you  give  me  leave.  'Twill  save 
time,"  persisted  the  boy. 

Mr.  Greatorex  pulled  out  his  watch.  What  a  joke, 
he  thought  —  this  sprat  of  a  boy  offering  to  tackle  his 
huge  motor-car !  It  was  only  a  little  after  five ;  there 
might  still  be  time  to  fetch  the  smith,  get  the  repairs 
made,  and  yet  reach  home  by  half-past  seven.  A  little 
rest  would  not  come  amiss  after  his  exertions.  Why 
not  let  the  youngster  try  his  hand  — for  the  fun  of 
it? 

"  Well,  then,  fire  away,  my  young  engineer.  I've 
been  at  it  half  an  hour,  confound  the  thing !  " 

"  What  have  'ee  done,  Measter  ?  " 

"  Done  ?  Everything !  Examined  the  sparking 
plugs :  they're  all  right.  Wires  from  battery :  they're 
all  right.  Spare  battery:  that's  all  right.  Plenty  of 
petrol  in  the  tank.  Everything's  all  right,  hang  it, 
and  yet  the  thing  won't  go!  " 

5 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"Don't  you  worrit,  Measter.  Give  me  a  lend  of 
your  tools." 

The  boy's  cocksureness  again  amused  Mr.  Great- 
orex,  who  seated  himself  on  the  parapet  of  the  bridge, 
and  mopped  his  perspiring  face,  smiling  pleasantly. 
Though  past  fifty  he  was  still  young  at  heart,  and  very 
ready  to  be  amused.  He  took  out  a  pipe,  filled  and 
lit  it,  and  puffed  away,  with  an  expression  of  serene 
contentment  on  his  rubicund  dirty  face. 

The  boy  flung  off  his  hat  and  disappeared.  Me- 
tallic sounds  came  from  the  interior  of  the  car. 

"  How  are  you  getting  on,  boy?  "  asked  Mr.  Great- 
orex  after  some  ten  minutes. 

There  was  no  answer. 

Five  minutes  passed. 

"  Find  it  rather  too  much  for  you,  eh  ?  "  said  Mr. 
Greatorex,  looking  more  amused  than  ever. 

Still  there  was  no  answer. 

"  Got  everything  you  want  ?  "  he  asked  again. 

But  the  boy  made  no  reply;  only  the  sound  of 
knocking  and  screwing  continued. 

Mr.  Greatorex  laughed  aloud. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  getting  up  and  standing  with 
legs  a-straddle  a  foot  or  two  from  the  machine, 
"  you  mustn't  make  too  long  a  job  of  it,  you  know." 
Then  he  chuckled. 

Five  minutes  afterward  the  boy  crawled  out. 
Mr.  Greatorex  laughed  again  as  he  surveyed  the  grimy 
little  fellow.  A  great  patch  of  black  surrounded  one 
eye,  where  he  had  rubbed  his  knuckles. 

6 


MR.  GREATOREX  IS  ASTONISHED 

"  All  right  now,  Measter,"  said  the  boy. 

"  What  1  .Come,  my  lad,  you've  had  your  turn ; 
now  run  along  and  fetch  the  smith." 

"  Bean't  no  need.     She'll  go  now." 

Mr.  Greatorex  looked  impressed,  stepped  to  the  front 
of  the  car,  and  turned  the  handle;  to  his  amazement 
the  engines  started.  He  sprang  into  the  car,  threw 
the  engines  into  gear,  and  was  still  more  amazed  when, 
releasing  the  clutch  pedal,  he  found  the  car  moved. 

"  Better  take  off  the  brake,  Measter,"  said  the 
boy. 

"  Why,  yes,  certainly,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex,  with 
a  preoccupied  air;  and  the  car  mounted  the  incline, 
spun  across  the  bridge  and  ran  easily  down  the  road. 
Then  Mr  Greatorex  stopped  it,  and  turned  quickly 
round. 

"Hi,  boy!"  he  shouted. 

The  boy  picked  up  his  hat,  stuck  it  on  his  head, 
and  approached. 

"  Look  here,  youngster,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex,  "  the 
machine  is  all  right!  " 

"Told  'ee  so,  Measter." 

Mr.  Greatorex  roared. 

"  You're  a  wonderful  little  chap.  Bless  my  soul, 
how  did  you  do  it  ?  " 

"  I'll  show  'ee  if  you'll  get  out." 

"  No,  thank  'ee.  I've  already  had  half  an  hour  at 
it,  and  I'm  as  black  as  a  nigger.  What  was  wrong?  " 

"  A  bit  of  grit  was  stuck  in  the  petrol  spray  nozzle, 
so  you  couldn't  get  no  petrol  into  the  carbureter." 

7 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"Oh!"  said  Mr.  Greatorex  blankly.  "What's 
your  name  ?  " 

"  Tom  Dorrell." 

"  You  don't  happen  to  be  manager  of  a  motor- 
works,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  boy,  unconscious  of  the  genial  sar- 
casm. 

"Where  do  you  live?" 

"  In  the  village  yonder,"  said  Tom,  pointing  ahead. 

"  Oh !  Ah !  Look  here,  my  lad,  why  aren't  you 
at  school  ?  " 

"  Why,  'cos  'tis  holidays,"  the  youngster  replied 
with  a  grin.  "  Feyther  didn't  want  me,  so  I  came  out 
to  fish." 

"  Oh,  indeed.       And  who's  your  father  ?  " 

"  He  be  the  smith  you  wanted  me  to  fetch ;  but  there 
warn't  no  need." 

"  So  it  appears !     I  say,  lad,  how  old  are  you  ?  " 

"  Twelve,  and  I'm  in  the  sixth  standard." 

"  You  are,  are  you  ?  And  how  long  have  you  been 
mending  motor-cars  ?  " 

"  Not  so  very  long.  I  help  f eyther  now  and  again ; 
motor-cars  are  always  breaking  down,  and  he  has 
mended  a  rare  lot  of  'em." 

"  Ah !  And  how  much  would  he  have  charged 
for  mending  this  one?  " 

"  About  two  shillings,  I  reckon ;  it  wasn't  a  very 
hard  job." 

"  Oh !  Well,  here's  two  shillings  for  you.  Don't 
spend  it  all  on  sweets." 

8 


MR.  GREATOREX  IS  ASTONISHED 

"  Not  me,"  said  the  boy  with  a  grin.  "  I'm  saving 
up,  I  am." 

"Indeed!     What  for?" 

"  Why,  for  heaps  of  things.  I  want  a  model  of  a 
four-coupled  bogie  tank  engine,  and  a  model  of  a 
turbine  steamer,  and  a  motor  bicycle  — " 

"  Steady,  youngster.  That's  rather  a  large  order, 
isn't  it?  You've  got  a  fancy  for  mechanics,  if  I'm 
not  mistaken  ?  " 

"  Mechanics !  Not  me !  That's  what  they  teach  in 
the  seventh  standard.  I  like  engines,  I  do  — • 
machines  that'll  go.  I'm  going  to  be  an  engineer 
some  day  —  if  I  can;  feyther  says  it  costs  a  mint  of 
money,  and  he  hasn't  got  much,  and  he  says  he  don't 
hold  with  flying  too  high,  and  I'd  much  better  be  a 
smith.  But  there's  nothing  new  in  smith's  work :  you 
just  go  on  shoeing  horses  and  sticking  fellies  on 
wheels,  and  mending  prams  and  motor-cars  now  and 
then.  I  want  to  do  something  new,  I  do." 

"  Ah !     What's  your  father's  name  ?  " 

"  Dorrell,  same  as  mine." 

"  Naturally.     And  what  do  you  call  your  village  ?  " 

"  Barton  Abbas." 

"  Well,  Tom,  here's  your  two  shillings.  You've 
got  a  bank-book,  I  suppose." 

"  Rather.  I've  got  three  pounds  fourteen  and  nine- 
pence;  this  makes  sixteen  and  ninepence.  I  shall 
have  another  sixpence  on  Saturday  for  cleaning 
pa'son's  bicycle;  that'll  make  seventeen  and  three- 
pence. Pa'son  gives  me  sixpence  a  week." 

9 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  You're  getting  quite  rich,  you  know.  Well, 
Tom,  thanks  to  you  I  shall  get  home  in  time  for 
dinner." 

"  I'm  pretty  hungry,"  said  Tom.  "  I  guess  it's  past 
my  tea  time." 

"  No  doubt  it  is.     Strawberry  jam,  eh?  " 

"  No.  Mother  says  that's  too  dear.  We  have 
rhubarb  and  marrow,  growed  in  the  garden." 

"  And  very  good  stuff,  too.  By  George!  I 
haven't  had  marrow  jam  for  forty  years." 

"  You  be  pretty  old. then :  older  than  feyther." 

"  Well,  d'you  know,  Tom,  I  am  several  years 
younger  than  I  was  two  hours  ago.  Good-by !  " 


CHAPTER  II 

HERR  SCHWAB 

One  spring  day,  rather  more  than  six  years  after 
the  meeting  of  Mr.  Greatorex  and  Tom  Dorrell  by 
Five  Oaks  bridge,  a  shabby  pony  cart  was  jogging 
along  the  road  that  led  from  the  little  railway  station 
of  Midfont,  through  the  sleepy  village  of  the  same 
name,  to  Midfont  House,  the  rural  retreat  to  which 
Mr.  Greatorex  betook  himself  from  his  business  in 
the  great  manufacturing  town  of  Burlingham  some 
dozen  miles  away.  The  sole  occupant  of  the  cart  was 
a  large  florid  man  of  about  forty-five,  who  eyed  the 
surroundings  curiously  through  heavy  gold-rimmed 
spectacles,  the  sluggish  pony  he  drove  requiring  little 
attention. 

His  costume,  no  less  than  his  spectacles,  was 
strangely  out  of  keeping  with  the  cart.  That  would 
have  been  a  fit  setting  for  a  farm-hand,  or  a  carrier, 
or  some  other  wearer  of  fustian.  But  its  present  oc- 
cupant was  attired  in  a  well-cut  gray  frock-coat,  silk- 
lined,  a  glossy  silk  hat,  a  lilac-colored  necktie  in 
which  flashed  a  diamond  pin,  and  trousers  of  large 
check  pattern.  His  hands  were  gloved  in  brown 
kid ;  between  his  teeth  he  held  a  long  cigar. 

He  looked  about  him  with  attention.      Unfenced 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

fields  stretched  on  either  side  of  the  road.  Every 
now  and  again  the  driver  would  pull  up,  stand  on 
the  seat,  and  throw  a  searching  glance  around.  Then, 
muttering  under  his  breath  words  that  were  certainly 
strange  to  that  part  of  the  English  midlands,  he 
would  drive  on  again,  looking  to  right  and  left  as 
before. 

By  and  by  he  came  to  a  part  of  the  road  where  a 
long  wooden  fence  on  the  right-hand  side  indicated  an 
inclosure.  To  this  the  driver  gave  his  whole  attention, 
and  when  the  fence  was  broken  by  a  wide  wooden 
gate,  within  which  a  carriage  drive  ran  past  a  little 
lodge  and  between  hedges  of  evergreen,  he  pulled  up, 
alighted  from  the  cart,  and,  leading  the  pony  by  the 
nose,  went  to  the  gate  and  gave  the  bell-pull  a  vig- 
orous tug.  It  might  have  been  noticed  that  he  walked 
a  little  lame. 

In  response  to  his  summons  a  man  came  to  the 
gate  —  a  young  man,  thin,  clean-shaven,  with  a  slight 
cast  in  one  eye.  He  was  bareheaded,  wore  a  red 
waistcoat  over  a  flannel  shirt,  and  brown  corduroy 
breeches  supported  by  a  leather  belt,  and  somewhat 
creased  above  brown  leggings. 

"  So ! "  said  the  driver  of  the  pony  cart,  as  the 
lodge-keeper  rested  his  arms  on  the  second  bar  of 
the  gate  and  looked  at  him.  "  Zis,  my  goot  friend, 
is  Midfont  House?" 

"  You've  got  it  right,  Guv'nor." 

"  So !  Zen  I  ask,  is  Mr.  Thomas  Dorrell  at 
home?" 

12 


HERR  SCHWAB 

"  Nice  day,  Guv'nor." 

"  I  zank  you,  yes,  it  is  not  bad.  Mr.  Thomas 
Dorrell— " 

"No;  my  name's  Timothy  Ball  —  T.B.  on  my 
collars." 

"  I  zank  you.     Mr.  Thomas  Dorrell  — " 

"  This  'ere  place  belongs  to  Mr.  John  Greatorex, 
Esquire,  J.P.,  and  he  ain't  at  home,  bein'  engaged 
in  tryin'  a  bad  case  of  stealin'  lamb  and  mint-sauce 
not  a  many  miles  from  'ere." 

"  My  goot  friend,  I  do  not  mind ;  I  like  it.  I 
come  not  to  see  Mr.  Greatorex,  I  come  to  see  Mr. 
Thomas  Dorrell — " 

"  Now,  look  'ere,  Guv'nor,  we've  had  chaps  'ere 
before  with  cheap  watches  and  books  and  thing- 
ummies  of  all  sorts,  and  I  tell  you  straight,  we  don't 
encourage  'em;  in  fact,  I've  got  strict  orders  from 
Mr.  Greatorex,  J.P.,  to  set  the  dog  on  any  such  that 
won't  take  no  for  an  answer." 

"  My  goot  friend,  you  mistake  —  Vizout  doubt  I 
carry  some  days,  books,  editions  de  luxe,  and  watches 
and  ozer  zinks,  but  to-day  —  no,  no.  Look,  here  is 
my  cart  — " 

"  And  a  rum-lookin'  ramshackle  turnout  it  is," 
quoth  Timothy,  ignoring  the  piece  of  pasteboard  and 
eying  the  vehicle  disdainfully.  "  I  wonder  you  ain't 
ashamed  to  come  out  in  a  'at  like  that,  togged  up 
to  the  nines,  quite  a  torf,  and  your  pony  as  looks 
as  if  he  ain't  had  a  currycomb  on  his  hide  for  a 
month  o'  Sundays." 

13 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Ah,  you  mistake  me  all  ze  time.  Ze  bony,  he 
is  not  mine ;  I  hire  him  to  bring  me  to  Midfont  House. 
Here  is  my  cart,  my  friend.  Take  it  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Dorrell,  viz  gompliments.  He  do  not  know  my  name, 
so!  But  he  know  ze  name  of  ze  firma  I  rebresent, 
and  he  vill  like  to  see  me,  I  know  zat,  because  he 
place  large  orders,  vair  large,  viz  our  gompany;  he 
is  vat  you  call  a  gustomer,  you  understand." 

Timothy  Ball  looked  doubtfully  at  the  visitor,  and 
at  the  card  he  offered  him. 

"  There's  customers,  and  rum  customers,"  he  said. 

"  Rum !  "  interrupted  the  visitor.  "  If  Mr.  Dorrell 
like  rum,  ve  can  subbly  any  quantity,  in  cask  or 
bottle,  at  rock-bottom  price." 

Timothy  sniggered  and  rubbed  his  mouth  with  the 
back  of  his  hand. 

"Rum  ain't  the  word  for  it,"  he  said.  "  Tis 
downright  bloomin'  funny,  that's  what  it  is.  Well, 
Guv'nor,  hold  hard  a  bit;  I'll  just  'phone  through  to 
Mr.  Dorrell  and  tell  him  you're  here.  'Ow  do  you 
say  your  name  ?  " 

"Schwab!  Hildebrand  Schwab,  representative  of 
ze  Schlagintwert  Gombany  of  Diisseldorf." 

"  Can't  say  all  that ;  telephone  won't  stand  it. 
Wait  a  bit  while  I  try  Swob." 

He  rang  up  and  put  the  receiver  to  his  ear. 

"  Are  you  there  ?  That  you,  Mr.  Dorrell  ?  .  .  . 
There's  a  man  here  ...  a  man  ...  a 
gentleman  to  see  you,  name  Swib  —  Swob !  So  he  said, 
sir  —  Travels  for  rum  by  what  I  can  make  out — " 

14 


HERR  SCHWAB 

"  No,  no ! "  cried  Schwab ;  but  Timothy  glared  him 
into  silence. 

"  Said  you  wouldn't  know  him,  sir,  but  you're  a 
customer  of  his  firm.  .  .  .  No,  sir,  not  rum. 
.  .  .  Can't  say  it,  sir.  .  .  .  Very  well,  sir : " 
glancing  at  the  card,  "  S-c-h-1-a-g-i-n-t-w.  .  .  . 
You've  got  it,  sir?  .  .  .  He  didn't  say,  sir. 
.  .  .  Very  well,  sir." 

"  Mr.  Dorrell  wants  to  know  why  you've  come." 

"  Vill  you  be  so  kind  as  permit  me  to  speak  to 
him  myself?  " 

"  No ;  your  trotter  might  run  away.  .  .  .  Yes, 
sir,  one  minute.  .  .  .  Now,  out  with  it,  Mr. 
Swob;  Mr.  Dorrell's  busy." 

"  Zen  tell  him  I  come  from  Diisseldorf  on  behalf 
of  my  firma  to  pay  zeir  respects  and  gompliments  to 
zeir  valued  gustomer,  and  to  zay  zat  ve  shall  be 
alvays  most  pleased  to  subbly  anyzink  vatefer  zat 
Mr.  Dorrell  vants  in  quickest  possible  tempo  egzept  our 
Number  Six  Photographic  Sensitizer  vich  require 
fortnight  notice — " 

"  Arf  a  mo' !  .  .  .  Yes,  sir,  but  there's  such  a 
lot  of  it  I  can't  get  hold  of  it  all.  .  .  .  No,  sir, 
not  walk;  the  gentleman's  rather  lame,  sir;  came  in 
a  pony  cart.  .  .  .  Very  well,  sir." 

"  Mr.  Dorrell  says  he'll  be  here  in  a  few  minutes 
if  you'll  wait." 

"  Vy,  certainly.  I  can  get  no  train  for  two  hour. 
I  vait  in  ze  house  ?  " 

"  No.     Mr.  Dorrell  ain't  in  the  house.     He'll  come 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

here.  We  always  interview  rum  customers  at  the 
gate." 

"  No,  no,  no ;  not  rum,  my  friend ;  and  Mr.  Dorrell 
is  ze  gustomer.  He  buy  of  us;  at  least,  he  order; 
Mr.  Greatorex  pay." 

"  Well,  it  don't  matter  to  you,  I  s'pose,  so  long 
as  you  get  your  money?  Mr.  Greatorex's  money  is 
good  enough  for  me,  anyway.  Paid  for  that  topping 
cigar  of  yours,  didn't  it  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  ze  honor  to  know  Mr.  Greatorex ;  but 
I  have  here  a  price  list  of  cigars,  and  if  — " 

"Here's  Mr.  Dorrell." 

"Vere?     I  see  him  not." 

"  Well,  he's  big  enough,  though  he  ain't  as  broad 
as  he's  long :  that  gentleman  in  the  blue  clothes  comin' 
down  the  path." 

"Zat  Mr.  Dorrell!  Vy  — he  is  a  boy!  Him- 
mel!" 

"  Rum,  ain't  it  ?  'Spose  you  never  was  a  boy, 
Mr.  Swob." 

A  tall  loose-limbed  young  fellow  had  come  into  the 
drive  from  a  side  path,  and  was  walking  with  great 
strides  toward  the  gate..  He  was  bareheaded;  his 
black  hair  tumbled  over  a  brow  unusually  high  and 
broad.  No  other  feature  was  noticeable  except  his 
eyes,  which  were  large,  deep  blue  in  color,  and  shot 
with  a  strange  glow.  He  was  dressed  in  a  loose  suit 
of  what  appeared  to  be  blue  alpaca,  which  was  plen- 
tifully bestained. 

By  this  time  Timothy  had  opened  the  gate  and 

16 


HERR  SCHWAB 

given  admittance  to  the  visitor.  Tom  Dorrell  came 
up,  held  out  his  hand,  and  said  in  quick  decisive  tones : 

"How  d'you  do,  Mr.—  ?" 

"  Schwab,  sir  —  Hildebrand  Schwab,  rebresenta- 
tive  of  ze  firma  of  Schlagintwert,  all  orders  punctually 
eggzecuted." 

"  Sorry  to  keep  you  waiting.  Very  busy,  you 
know;  if  you  had  given  me  notice — " 

"  Ach !     I  come  on  ze  hop,  sir." 

Tom  smiled. 

"  Well,  glad  to  see  you,  anyway.  Is  there  any- 
thing I  can  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  Sir,  zat  is  vat  I  ask  you.  You  give  orders,  first- 
class,  for  our  Photographic  Sensitizer,  Preparation 
Number  Six ;  but  my  firm  zink  you  do  not  know,  per- 
haps, zat  zey  do  many  ozer  zinks  beside  Photographic 
Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six.  Vy,  zere  is 
nozink  vat  we  do  not  do,  nozink  at  all.  We  can  sup- 
ply anyzink  —  soft  goods,  musical  boxes,  hair  oil — " 

"  I  know,  I  know,"  said  Tom.  "  I  have  your  price 
list." 

"  But  not  ze  new  vun  —  revise'  and  correct'  card," 
returned  Schwab,  pulling  from  his  pocket  a  bulky  vol- 
ume in  red  paper  cover.  "  Viz  gompliments !  " 

"  Thanks !     Now,  I  am  very  busy  — " 

"  Shust  so !  Business  are  business !  Not  for  ze 
vorld  vould  I  stand  in  ze  light.  Only  bermit  me  shust 
vun  vord.  Ze  orders  you  give  for  Photographic  Sen- 
sitizer Preparation  Number  Six,  vy,  zey  are  im- 
mense, colossal;  and  you  pay  on  ze  nail.  My  firma 

17 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

get  no  such  orders  novere,  and  zey  are  surprise,  be- 
cause Number  Six  is  new  zink;  it  is  not  long  zat  it  is 
on  ze  market.  Vy  zen  come  so  large  orders  from  so 
little  place?  Zey  zink  zere  are  business  to  be  done; 
zerefore  am  I  here." 

"  Well,  you  can't  expect  the  merits  of  the  stuff  to  be 
known  all  at  once." 

"  Shust  so.  Zerefore  I  come.  Schlagintwert  say : 
•'  Mr.  Dorrell  use  a  great  lot  of  P.S.P.  No.  6;  zerefore 
must  it  be  vair  goot ;  go  and  see  Mr.  Dorrell ;  perhaps 
he  be  so  kind  to  give  testimonial  —  zat  vill  be  goot 
business." 

"  Afraid  I  can't  do  that.  You  see,  I  don't  use  it  in 
photography,  and  that  is  what  you  advertise  it  for." 

"  But  ve  will  advertise  it  for  anyzink  you  please." 

"  My  use  of  it  is  secret  at  present." 

"  Zen  ve  vill  buy  ze  secret.     Ve  are  vair  rich  firma." 

"  But  it  wouldn't  be  a  secret  then." 

"  Zat  is  true,  but  it  vould  be  business.  Zere  vill 
be  patent  rights,  perhaps;  veil,  ve  buy  zem;  ve  buy 
anyzink  zat  is  goot  business." 

"  No,  I  haven't  taken  out  a  patent.  It  is  very  good 
of  you.  Mr.  Schwab,  if  at  any  time  — " 

"  Ach !  Vat  you  call  any  time ! —  zat  is  no  time. 
Now,  now  is  ze  time.  I  am  in  zis  country  only  few 
days.  I  go  soon  to  Morocco  for  business.  I  suffer 
eggstremely  from  sea-illness,  but  for  business  I  go 
anyvere.  Zink  how  it  would  console  me  in  ze  Bay  of 
Biscay  to  know  zat  I  had  done  good  business  for 
Schlagintwert  —  and  for  you,  Mr.  Dorrell." 

18 


HERR  SCHWAB 

"  Sorry.  Really  I  can't  say  any  more,  Mr.  Schwab. 
I  must  go;  look  me  up  again,  if  you  like,  when  you 
get  back  from  Morocco." 

Recognizing  that  Tom  was  not  to  be  drawn,  the 
German  swallowed  his  disappointment,  took  leave  in 
most  expansive  terms,  and  was  soon  jogging  back 
in  the  direction  from  which  he  had  come.  But  rind- 
ing, on  arriving  at  the  station,  that  he  had  an  hour 
to  wait  for  his  train,  he  introduced  himself  to  the 
station-master  and  tactfully  led  the  conversation  to 
Midfont  House  and  its  owner,  Mr.  Greatorex.  What 
he  learned  in  the  course  of  it  was  something  to  the 
following  effect. 

Some  years  before,  Mr.  Greatorex  had  discovered 
a  taste  for  mechanics  in  the  son  of  the  village  smith 
at  Barton  Abbas,  twenty  miles  away.  He  had  put  the 
boy  to  a  good  school,  often  had  him  at  Midfont  House 
in  the  holidays,  and  paid  his  fees  at  the  university  in 
the  neighboring  town,  where  the  boy  took  honors  in 
mechanics  and  engineering  at  a  very  early  age.  Then, 
about  a  year  before  this  time,  Mr.  Greatorex  had 
fenced  in  a  large  piece  of  waste  ground  on  his  es- 
tate, erected  a  workshop  in  the  middle  of  it,  and  given 
it  up  entirely  to  young  Dorrell,  who  was  now  ap- 
parently a  permanent  inmate  of  his  house.  What 
went  on  in  the  workshop  the  station-master  did  not 
know.  The  inclosure  was  kept  strictly  private;  no- 
body outside  the  family  was  ever  allowed  to  pass  its 
borders.  The  station-master  believed  that  young 
Dorrell  was  inventing  a  motor-car;  it  was  said  that 

19 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Mr.  Greatorex's  interest  in  him  dated  from  the  day 
when  the  boy  had  repaired  some  trifling  mishap  which 
had  befallen  his  car  on  the  road. 

The  effect  of  this  information  on  Herr  Schwab  was 
greater  than  the  station-master  ever  knew.  When  the 
train  came  in,  the  German  got  into  it,  but  he  alighted 
at  the  next  station  two  miles  off,  and  trudged  back 
over  the  road  until  he  once  more  stood  at  the  gate  of 
Midfont  House.  It  was  now  dark.  Schwab  did  not 
this  time  pull  the  bell.  He  walked  on  past  the  gate 
for  a  good  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  finally  halted  at 
a  large  heap  of  stones  collected  for  mending  the 
road. 

There  were  no  wayfarers  at  this  late  hour;  nobody 
saw  how  this  big  figure  in  the  frock-coat  employed 
himself.  He  filled  his  glossy  hat  with  flints  from  the 
heap,  carried  it  to  the  foot  of  the  fence,  and  emptied 
it  there,  returning  for  another  hatful.  After  an 
hour's  patient  work  a  pile  of  stones  stood  some  three 
feet  high  against  the  fence.  Mopping  his  damp  brow, 
dusting  the  inside  of  his  hat,  and  replacing  it  on  his 
head,  Schwab  mounted  the  pile,  clambered  over  the 
fence,  and  dropped  down  somewhat  heavily  on  the 
other  side.  Not  till  that  moment  had  he  given  a 
thought  to  the  means  of  getting  back,  and  looking  up 
at  the  fence,  the  top  of  which  was  quite  beyond  his 
reach,  he  uttered  a  low  guttural  exclamation  of  dismay. 
But  the  die  was  cast.  Consumed  by  his  curiosity  to 
learn  more  about  this  mysterious  workshop,  in  the  way 
of  business,  he  had  come  thus  far,  and  as  there  was 

20 


HERR  SCHWAB 

apparently  no  going  back  he  decided  to  make  his  way 
forward. 

He  found  himself  in  an  extensive  meadow,  bor- 
dered by  trees.  No  habitation  was  in  sight.  The  moon 
threw  a  little  light  on  the  scene,  and,  after  walking 
for  some  minutes  over  the  grass,  he  perceived  a  long, 
low,  oblong  building  which,  as  he  drew  nearer,  he 
saw  was  built  of  wood,  with  no  windows  in  the  walls, 
but  having  fan-lights  in  the  sloping  roof.  There  was 
but  one  door. 

"  Ich  hoffe  dass  die  Thur  nicht  verriegelt  ist! "  he 
muttered,  as,  glancing  apprehensively  round,  he  ap- 
proached to  try  the  knob.  He  was  not  conscious  of 
anything  improper  in  this  nocturnal  enterprise;  was  it 
not  all  in  the  way  of  business  ? 

He  came  to  the  door,  and  firmly  grasped  the 
knob. 

When  he  recovered  consciousness  he  found  him- 
self on  his  back  on  the  grass.  In  his  right  hand  there 
was  a  feeling  as  if  it  had  been  burned  to  the  bone. 
With  many  sighs  and  groans  he  rose,  sought  for  his 
hat,  and  turning  his  back  on  the  workshop,  limped 
sadly  toward  the  fence.  His  whole  body  tingled  with 
the  electric  shock.  Bitterly  he  lamented  his  unhappy 
zeal  for  business.  What  an  abominable  device  for 
protecting  the  premises!  And  there  was  that  terri- 
ble fence  to  be  climbed,  or  he  would  have  to  remain 
all  night  in  the  field,  assuredly  to  be  discovered  in 
the  morning  and  suspected  of  felonious  intent.  He 
remembered  that  Timothy  Ball  had  spoken  of  his 

21 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

master  as  a  magistrate,  and  saw  himself  already,  frock- 
coat,  silk  hat  and  all,  in  a  felon's  cell. 

Shaken  to  the  core  he  came  to  the  fence  and  spent 
a  weary  hour  in  groping  up  and  down,  trying  to  find 
an  outlet.  At  length,  when  he  had  almost  given  up 
hope,  and  was  trying  to  steel  his  soul  against  the 
exposure  of  the  morrow,  he  reached  a  tree  whose 
branches  overhung  the  fence.  It  was  more  than 
thirty  years  since,  as  a  boy,  he  had  climbed  a  tree 
in  sport;  who  would  have  foreseen  that  now,  a  man 
of  bulk,  he  would  be  forced  to  attempt  the  feat  in 
the  interests  of  business?  And  his  right  hand  was 
so  desperately  painful!  Luckily  the  trunk  was 
gnarled  and  a  branch  hung  low.  He  tried  to  heave 
himself  up,  and  his  hat  fell  off.  He  picked  it  up  and 
shied  it  impatiently  over  the  fence.  Then  he  tried 
again,  and  felt  in  the  extremity  of  despair  when  he 
heard  the  oosh  of  tearing  silk.  Alas!  for  his  new 
frock-coat !  But  he  was  at  least  safely  on  the  bough. 
He  worked  himself  along  it,  dreading  lest  it  should 
snap,  and  conscious  of  the  inconvenience  of  fourteen 
stone.  Happily  he  was  now  on  the  right  side  of  the 
fence.  He  dropped,  and  alighted  in  a  bed  of  nettles. 
He  got  up,  found  his  hat,  mechanically  brushed  it 
with  his  sleeve,  and  set  it  on  his  head. 

"  Ach!  Ich  unglucklicher! "  he  sighed  as  he  set  off 
up  the  road. 


CHAPTER  III 

TOM    MAKES    EXPERIMENTS 

The  information  given  to  Herr  Schwab  by  the 
Midfont  station-master  was  accurate  up  to  a  certain 
point.  Mr.  Greatorex  had  indeed  constituted  him- 
self the  beneficent  patron  of  Torn  Dorrell,  educated 
him,  entertained  him  at  Midfont  House,  and  built 
for  him  a  workshop  in  the  grounds.  So  far  the  sta- 
tion-master was  right.  But  when  he  added  that  Tom 
was  working  at  a  new  motor-car  he  stated  a  hypothe- 
sis, not  a  fact. 

About  a  year  before  this  time,  when  Tom  came  to 
Midfont  House  to  spend  a  month's  holiday,  he 
brought  with  him  a  small  model  of  an  aerial  machine 
on  which  he  had  been  quietly  working  in  leisure  mo- 
ments. He  showed  it  to  Mr.  Greatorex. 

"  Very  pretty,"  said  the  worthy  merchant,  examin- 
ing the  toy ;  "  but  it  won't  go" 

"  Oh,  yes  it  will,"  said  Tom.     "  See!  " 

They  were  in  Mr.  Greatorex's  study  at  the  time. 
Tom  poised  the  model  on  his  left  hand,  released  a 
spring,  and  the  little  aeroplane,  with  a  whizz  and  a 
hum,  soared  across  the  room,  and  before  it  could  be 
stopped,  dashed  against  the  glass  door  of  a  bookcase 
and  shivered  it  to  atoms. 

23 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  I'm  awfully  sorry,"  said  Tom  contritely,  picking- 
up  the  machine  and  silencing  it. 

"What  are  you  doing,  John?"  said  Mrs.  Great- 
orex,  opening  the  door.  "  What  a  terrible  mess !  " 
she  added,  surveying  the  litter  on  the  floor. 

"  It  shall  be  swept  up,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Great- 
orex.  "  You  can't  make  omelets  without  breaking 
eggs,  my  love." 

Mrs.  Greatorex  looked  a  little  puzzled. 

"  Of  course  not,  my  dear,"  she  said  after  a  mo- 
ment. Then  with  a  deprecating  smile  she  went  away. 
Mr.  Greatorex  locked  the  door. 

;     "Now,  Tom,"  he  said,  "just  explain,  will  you? 
Begin  at  the  beginning;  I  want  to  know,  you  know." 

"  Well,  I've  been  thinking  a  lot  at  odd  times  about 
airships  and  things,  and  reading  up  what  they've  been 
doing  in  France  and  Germany.  There's  little  pros- 
pect of  making  a  really  serviceable  machine  out  of 
the  old  gas  balloon,  it's  far  too  clumsy;  but  I  didn't 
'see  why  something  shouldn't  be  done  on  the  lines  of 
the  aeroplane.  You  see,  it's  easy  enough  to  set  the 
thing  going,  and  even  to  steer  it,  when  you've  got  it 
up  in  the  air ;  but  there  are  three  difficulties :  to  get  it 
up,  to  let  it  down  without  smashing  it  to  bits,  and  to 
keep  it  from  turning  somersaults.  You  can  over- 
come the  force  of  gravity  by  an  arrangement  of  planes 
when  you  keep  up  a  good  speed;  but  if  you  slacken 
speed,  down  you  come.  And  all  the  aeroplanes  that 
have  been  invented  yet  can't  rise  in  the  air  at  any 
given  spot.  They  either  have  to  be  thrown  off  from 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

some  elevated  position,  or  they  have  to  get  up  a  mo- 
mentum along  the  ground,  running  like  a  motor-car. 
Then  again,  the  motor  machinery  has  been  too 
heavy;  engines  haven't  been  able  to  exert  sufficient 
horse-power  in  proportion  to  their  own  weight.  I've 
worked  it  out,  and  I  calculate  that  no  good  can  be 
done  till  you  get  an  engine  that'll  give  you  one  horse- 
power to  every  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  its  weight." 

"Yes.    Well?" 

"  Well,  this  model  is  the  result  of  no  end  of  ex- 
periments. It  goes,  as  you  see;  but  besides  sailing 
horizontally,  it  will  lift  itself.  Look !  " 

He  took  up  the  little  machine,  released  another 
spring,  and  the  miniature  airship  went  flying  to  the 
ceiling,  where  it  remained  until  the  spring  ran 
down. 

"  All  very  well,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex,  unwilling  to 
admit  that  he  was  impressed ;  "  but  the  thing  is  only  a 
toy.  There's  all  the  difference  in  the  world  between 
a  model  and  the  real  thing,  you  know.  You  could 
never  get  a  spring  strong  enough  to  lift  a  real  ma- 
chine. I'm  not  satisfied  that  you  could  even  get  the 
horizontal  motion  you're  so  cocksure  of  with  a  ma- 
chine that  would  carry  men" 

"  No  spring  would  do  it,  it  is  true ;  but  I've  worked 
out  an  application  of  the  principle.  It's  well  known 
that  a  propeller  rotating  at  sufficient  speed  can  be  made 
to  lift  a  weight  into  the  air.  Of  course  we  couldn't 
set  a  real  airship  rotating  bodily;  no  aeronaut's  head 
.would  stand  it  if  we  could.  But,  as  you  saw,  my  model 

25 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

doesn't  rotate,  itself.  I've  only  made  use  of  the 
principle  —  pretty  successfully,  don't  you  think?" 

"  Just  explain  to  me  thoroughly,  will  you  ?  I  want 
a  little  more  light  on  the  subject" 

Tom  took  his  model,  and  patiently  expounded  the 
mechanical  principles  on  which  he  had  worked.  The 
upshot  of  this  and  other  conversations  was  that  Mr. 
Greatorex  became  first  interested,  then  enthusiastic, 
and  finally  determined.  He  had  a  workshop  erected 
on  a  large  piece  of  waste  ground  nearly  a  mile  and 
a  half  square  on  his  estate,  and  gave  Tom  carte- 
blanche  to  get  what  assistance  and  spend  what  money 
he  pleased.  Resolving  to  keep  the  matter  a  close  se- 
cret until  the  experiments  were  concluded,  he  fenced 
in  the  inclosure,  and  gave  strict  orders  that  no  one 
was  to  be  admitted  to  it  without  Tom's  consent. 
Tom  himself  devised  a  simple  means  of  defending 
the  workshop  from  prying  visitors.  Whenever  he 
left  it,  he  set  going  a  strong  electric  current  through 
the  door-knob,  which  was  more  effective  protection 
than  locks  and  bolts. 

Tom  found,  as  soon  as  he  came  to  enlarge  his  model 
into  a  practicable  working  size,  that  none  of  the  mo- 
tors then  on  the  market  was  sufficiently  powerful  in 
proportion  to  its  weight  to  give  him  the  necessary 
lifting  force.  .The  electric  motor  was  out  of  the 
question,  and  an  adaptation  of  the  latest  petrol  engine 
as  applied  to  motor-cars  and  launches  seemed  to  offer 
the  most  likely  solution.  Even  here,  however,  the 
march  of  invention  had  not  gone  far  enough.  The 

26 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

latest  petrol  motor,  it  is  true,  enabled  Tom  to  keep 
the  machine  at  a  constant  altitude  when  once  it  was 
in  flight;  but  it  failed  to  raise  it  from  a  position  of 
rest.  Some  other  method  must  be  found,  and  he  set 
his  wits  to  work  to  discover  it. 

The  first  condition  of  success  was,  he  felt,  the  dis- 
covery of  an  explosive  mixture  far  more  powerful 
than  that  offered  by  petrol,  and  yet  capable  of  being 
harnessed  and  controlled.  He  had  the  run  of  Mr. 
Greatorex's  chemical  laboratories,  and  the  benefit  of 
the  practical  advice  and  assistance  of  the  heads  of  the 
experimental  staff.  Scores  of  preparations  were 
tried,  and,  for  one  reason  or  another,  rejected. 
Where  sufficient  power  was  obtained,  it  was  almost 
invariably  found  that  the  mixture  was  not  stable  or 
uniform  in  its  effects.  Several  explosive  mixtures 
were  discovered  quite  powerful  enough  for  the  pur- 
pose; but,  as  Mr.  Greatorex's  chief  chemist  pointed 
out,  all  of  them  were  likely  to  blow  the  airship  to 
smithereens  in  the  event  of  any  accident  to  the  ma- 
chinery. 

It  was  some  months  after  the  beginning  of  the  ex- 
periments before  one  of  the  junior  chemists  came  to 
Tom  with  the  announcement  that  he  had  discovered 
what  he  thought  might  be  the  very  substance  required. 
A  German  firrn,  Schlagintwert  and  Company  of  Diis- 
seldorf,  had  placed  on  the  market  a  few  months  earlier 
a  powder  which,  used  as  a  solution,  was  highly  valu- 
able in  preparing  photographic  plates.  The  exact  in- 
gredients of  the  powder  were  unknown,  although  by 

27 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

analysis  it  had  been  found  to  consist  of  nitrate  com- 
pounds; but  the  buyer  was  warned  by  a  label  that  it 
should  not  be  exposed  to  great  heat,  owing  to  the 
danger  of  explosion.  It  had  occurred  to  the  chem- 
ist to  mix  a  little  of  this  powder  with  petrol.  The 
result  was  a  paste  which  dried  hard,  but  gave  off  al- 
most infinitesimal  particles  of  a  highly  explosive  na- 
ture, when  floating  in  an  air-chamber,  though  the 
paste  itself  was  not  explosive  either  under  heat  or 
shock. 

Tom  was  delighted  with  the  discovery,  and  at  once 
proceeded  to  construct  an  engine  suitable  to  the  pe- 
culiar properties  of  the  composition.  In  building  the 
motor  he  adapted  the  principle  of  the  turbine  to  air- 
ship navigation.  A  powerful  fan  drove  the  current 
of  air  through  a  number  of  perforated  aluminium 
plates  covered  with  the  paste.  The  resultant  mixture 
of  air  and  explosive  particles  passed  into  the  explo- 
sion chamber,  the  intake  being  controlled  by  auto- 
matic valves  connected  with  the  turbine.  The 
explosion  of  the  mixture  was  brought  about  by  a  spark- 
ing plug  connected  with  a  small  electric  battery,  the 
sparking  being  controlled  by  a  cam  on  the  shaft.  At 
each  explosion,  the  gas  generated  was  driven  at  an 
enormous  pressure  through  the  turbine  to  the  right 
of  the  explosion  chamber,  thus  driving  the  propeller 
fixed  on  the  shaft. 

Tom  made  his  fan  serve  a  double  purpose,  not  only 
to  drive  air  through  the  aluminium  plates,  but  to  send 
a  current  round  a  jacket  on  the  outside  of  the  turbine 

28 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

and  thus  keep  the  latter  cool.  This  was  a  highly  nec- 
essary arrangement,  owing  to  the  enormous  heat 
generated.  From  the  first,  indeed,  the  difficulty  of 
cooling  the  turbine  was  the  most  serious  with  which 
he  had  to  grapple.  It  required  months  of  experiment 
before  the  engine  could  be  worked  for  more  than 
two  or  three  minutes  at  a  time.  Gradually,  however, 
by  increasing  the  power  of  the  fan,  and  constructing 
the  turbine  casing  and  blades  of  an  alloy  specially 
adapted  to  resist  the  effects  of  intense  heat,  this  diffi- 
culty was  to  a  great  extent  overcome. 

The  airship  when  completed  was  not  unlike  a  huge 
bird  with  wings  outstretched.  The  body  of  the  bird 
consisted  of  the  car  and  engine.  The  wings  were 
planes  of  lath  strengthened  with  aluminium,  and  ca- 
pable of  being  inclined  on  any  desired  angle,  by  the 
simple  movement  of  a  switch  in  the  car.  A  large  rec- 
tangular plane  projecting  from  the  rear  of  the  car 
acted  as  a  rudder,  principally  for  lateral  movement, 
motion  upwards  and  downwards  being  provided  for 
either  by  the  inclination  of  the  larger  planes  or  by  the 
special  screws  actuated  by  the  engine.  The  latter 
drove  two  sets  of  propellers ;  one  fore  and  aft,  giving 
a  horizontal  movement,  the  other  below  and  above 
the  car,  giving  a  vertical  movement.  Either  set  of 
propellers  could  be  thrown  out  of  gear  when  desired. 
Tom  would  have  been  glad  to  dispense  with  the  ver- 
tical propellers  if  he  could  have  done  so,  but  he  found 
that  the  whole  force  of  his  engine  was  necessary  to 
raise  the  airship  from  a  position  of  rest.  He  had 

29 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

not  sufficient  motive  power  to  enable  him  to  use  such 
an  adjustment  of  oblique  propellers  as  would  have 
insured  simultaneous  horizontal  and  vertical  move- 
ment. 

Mr.  Greatorex  at  once  promoted  the  fortunate 
young  chemist  who  had  discovered  the  virtues  of  the 
Schlagintwert  powder,  and  swore  him  to  secrecy. 
The  parts  of  Tom's  machine  were  made  to  his  order 
by  various  firms,  the  work  being  distributed,  so  that 
no  one  firm  should  be  in  possession  of  the  complete 
apparatus;  and  a  few  weeks  before  Herr  Schwab's 
visit,  an  aeroplane  capable  of  sustaining  the  weight 
of  several  men  was  finished  and  in  it  Tom  made  daily 
trips  about  the  field.  He  tested  it  so  frequently  that 
he  used  considerable  quantities  of  the  powder,  and  it 
was  not  surprising  that  the  curiosity  of  Schlagint- 
werts  was  aroused  by  the  large  orders  that  came  from 
one  small  place  for  an  article  that  cost  a  good  deal 
more  than  its  weight  in  gold. 

Tom  was,  however,  not  yet  satisfied  with  his  ma- 
chine. For  one  thing,  he  had  found  it  impossible  as 
yet  to  return  to  earth  with  any  exactitude  at  a  fixed 
spot.  It  was  a  matter  of  the  nice  adjustment  of  the 
horizontal  with  the  vertical  motion,  and  after  re- 
peated failures  Tom  comforted  himself  with  the 
thought  that  it  must  be  only  after  long  practice  that  an 
engine  driver  could  pull  his  locomotive  up  to  a  nicety. 
Obviously  much  more  practice  must  be  required  when 
the  task  was  infinitely  more  difficult. 

Further,  in  spite  of  the  jacket  around  the  turbine, 

30 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

the  heat  generated  was  still  too  great  to  allow  of  trav- 
eling any  great  distance  in  safety,  and  the  prospective 
usefulness  of  the  aeroplane  was  discounted  accord- 
ingly. 

It  was  Mr.  Greatorex  who  suggested  a  possible  way 
out  of  the  difficulty. 

"Why  not  have  two  engines  instead  of  one?"  he 
said.  "If  one  breaks  down  —  why,  there's  the 
other." 

"  It  means  more  weight,"  said  Tom  ruefully,  "  and 
therefore  less  speed  and  less  carrying  capacity." 

"  Well,  there's  no  hurry,  is  there  ?  And  as  for 
carrying  capacity  —  /  don't  intend  to  tempt  the  fates, 
or  run  the  risk  of  a  smash-up  like  —  who  was  it? 
Icarus?  Thought  so." 

Tom  adopted  the  suggestion.  He  replaced  his  first 
engine  by  two  somewhat  smaller,  so  that  as  soon  as 
one  became  overheated  the  other  could  be  employed 
instead.  The  lifting  capacity  and  the  speed  of  the 
airship  were  consequently  diminished,  but  scarcely  so 
much  as  Tom  expected. 

So  far  the  experiments  had  been  carried  on  with 
perfect  secrecy.  The  inclosure  was  surrounded  by 
trees,  and  Tom  was  always  careful  not  to  drive  his 
machine  above  the  level  of  their  tops.  But  one  day, 
a  few  months  after  Schwab's  visit,  he  was  careering 
round,  to  the  mingled  admiration  and  terror  of  Tim- 
othy Ball  watching  him  from  the  ground,  when  he 
was  startled  by  an  exclamation  that  certainly  did  not 
spring  from  the  lips  of  that  worthy.  Timothy  was  a 


good  quarter-mile  away;  the  voice  appeared  to  come 
from  a  spot  almost  vertically  below  the  aeroplane. 

"  By  George !     Look  there,  Mops !  " 

Tom  took  a  hurried  peep  over.  There,  below  him, 
in  a  gap  between  the  trees  just  beyond  the  fence,  stood 
a  tall  young  fellow  in  tennis  flannels,  with  light  blue 
cap  and  tie. 

"  What  is  it,  Pops  ?  "  answered  a  silvery  voice ;  and 
a  second  figure  joined  the  first  —  a  girl  in  white. 

"  Why,  look !  Hanged  it  if  isn't  an  aeroplane,  go- 
ing like  one  o'clock,  too." 

"  Oh,  how  dreadful ! "  cried  the  girl,  looking  up. 
"  I  am  sure  it  will  fall,  and  there  will  be  a  horrid 
accident.  Oh,  do  come  away,  Raymond !  " 

"  Not  I !  This  is  hot  stuff,  Mopsy.  By  Jove,  the 
fellow  can  steer  the  thing.  He's  making  for  that 
shanty  over  there  —  and  coming  down  like  a  lark.  I 
say,  Mops,  give  me  a  leg  up;  I  want  to  have  a  nearer 
squint  at  the  machine." 

"  But  Raymond,  it's  no  business  of  yours  —  it's  — • 
it's  trespassing ! " 

'  Trespassing  be  hanged.  We're  next-door  neigh- 
bors. Come,  give  me  a  shove  up." 

He  clutched  the  top  of  the  fence;  his  sister,  still 
feebly  expostulating,  gave  him  a  most  workmanlike 
hoist,  and  in  a  few  seconds  he  disappeared  on  the  other 
side.  The  girl  waited  a  little ;  then  turned  and  walked 
away. 

Her  brother  meanwhile  was  hastening  across  the 
field  toward  the  workshop,  near  which  the  aeroplane 

32 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

had  by  this  time  alighted.     Half-way  he  was  met  by 
Timothy  Ball,  who  touched  his  cap  and  said: 

"  Beg  pardon,  sir,  but  these  are  private  grounds 
and  you're  a  trespasser." 

"  That's  all  right.  My  name's  Oliphant ;  we're 
neighbors  of  yours,  you  know." 

"  Now  that's  a  good  un. —  Hold  hard,  sir," —  as 
the  intruder  made  to  walk  around  him  — "  my  orders 
is  to  allow  no  one  on  the  premises!  Your  name's 
Oliphant,  you  said?  Well,  you  can't  be  a  neighbor, 
'cos  the  only  neighbor  I  knows  of  is  Lord  Langside." 

"  He's  my  father." 

"But  — Oliphant— " 

"  Exactly !  Now,  come  along,  my  good  fellow, — 
I  want  to  see  your  master." 

"  He  don't  want  to  see  you,  though.  No,  you 
don't;  keep  off,  sir;  my  orders  is  to  allow  no  one  on 
the  premises." 

Then  began  a  little  game  of  dodging,  Timothy  step- 
ping in  front  of  the  intruder  and  stretching  his  arms 
like  a  cattle-driver.  In  half  an  hour  Raymond  Oli- 
phant gave  it  up. 

"  Really,  this  is  too  absurd,"  he  said  good-tem- 
peredly.  "  I  say,  I'll  give  you  my  word  to  stay  here 
while  you  go  and  tell  your  master  that  I'd  like  to  in- 
troduce myself  to  him." 

'  Then  you'll  stay  a  long  time,  'cos  master's  in  town 
and  won't  be  home  till  seven  o'clock." 

"  Well  then,  the  driver  of  that  aeroplane,  whoever 
he  is. —  Ah !  here  he  comes,  thank  goodness !  " 

33 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Tom  was  hastening  across  the  field.  He  wore  his 
usual  working  suit  of  blue  alpaca;  face  and  hands 
were  much  begrimed. 

"  Your  watch-dog  here  won't  let  me  pass,"  said 
Oliphant  with  a  smile,  as  Tom  came  up.  "  I  told  him 
I  was  a  neighbor,  but  he  thinks  I'm  a  bad  lot.  .We've 
only  just  come  to  the  place;  my  father  has  taken  it, 
you  know;  he's  coming  down  for  shooting  as  soon  as 
Parliament's  up.  I  saw  your  aeroplane  skylarking 
round,  and  couldn't  resist  the  temptation  to  come  over 
for  a  nearer  look.  You  don't  mind  ?  " 

"  Well  —  no."     Tom's  tone  was  dubious. 

"  Oh,  if  you'd  rather  not,  of  course !  " 
v     "  No,  I  don't  mind  really.     But  Mr.  Greatorex  is 
rather  particular  about  keeping  the  matter  quiet  — " 

"I'll  be  mum  as  the  dead,  I  assure  you.  I  don't 
know  anything  about  machinery ;  it  isn't  in  our  line  at 
Eton;  you  needn't  be  afraid  of  my  giving  the  secret 
,away." 

"  It  isn't  that,  exactly.  I'm  not  afraid  of  your  dis- 
covering the  secret  of  the  machine;  but  it's  rather 
important  that  the  fact  of  its  existence  shouldn't  leak 
out  just  yet." 

"  Well,  you'll  have  to  make  friends  with  my 
sister,  then.  She  has  seen  it,  too.  It's  lucky  mother 
is  in  town,  or  the  secret  would  be  out  by  this 
time." 

They  were  walking  now  side  by  side  to  the  shed. 

"You're  not  Mr.  Greatorex's  son,  then?" 

"  No ;  my  name's  Dorrell.     I'm  no  relation  of  his." 

34 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

"  My  name's  Raymond  Oliphant.  I'm  just  home 
from  Eton;  long  holidays,  you  know.  That's  a 
clinking  machine  of  yours.  Never  seen  anything  like 
it  before.  Did  Mr.  Greatorex  invent  it?  I  under- 
stood he  was  a  chemical  manufacturer." 

"  No.     I  did." 

"  Really !  I  say  —  d'you  mind  ?  —  how  old  are 
you?" 

"  Eighteen." 

"  Just  my  age !  And  I'm  rotting  about  at  Eton 
while  you  —  I  say,  you  ought  to  make  a  good  thing 
of  this." 

"  It's  only  experimental  at  present.  We  haven't 
tried  a  long  flight." 

"  Will  you  get  the  Government  to  take  it  up  ?  I'll 
put  in  a  word  with  the  pater,  you  know." 

"  That's  altogether  premature,"  said  Tom  with  a 
smile. 

"  Why,  it  seemed  to  me  to  go  all  right.  Will  it 
take  two?  " 

"  Two  of  our  weight,  I  think.  Would  you  like  to 
try?" 

"  Rather !  And  I  say,  just  keep  out  of  sight  from 
our  ground,  will  you?  If  Margaret  were  to  catch 
sight  of  me  she'd  have  a  fit  or  something.  By  Jove ! 
it  won't  be  so  slow  here  as  I  feared." 

Oliphant  spent  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  air,  and 
when  he  descended  was  overflowing  with  enthusiasm. 

"  It's  simply  ripping,  Mr.  Dorrell,"  he  cried.  "  I 
may  come  again,  mayn't  I  ?  " 

35 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Certainly,"  said  Tom,  adding  with  a  smile :  "  on 
one  condition." 

"  Trust  me,  I  won't  say  a  word.  And  I'll  shut 
Margaret's  mouth,  too  —  if  I  can.  Look  here,  it 
seems  to  me  you'd  be  the  best  man  for  that  job.  I'll 
bring  Margaret  to-morrow  —  may  I  ?  —  and  when 
she  knows  you're  the  inventor,  and  you  impress  on  her 
that  your  life's  at  stake  or  something,  she'll  be  more 
likely  to  hold  her  tongue  than  if  I  jaw.  Good-by." 

Tom  thought  it  necessary  to  inform  Mr.  Greatorex, 
in  the  drawing-room  before  dinner,  of  what  had  hap- 
pened. 

"  Hm! "  he  grunted.  "  Eton  boy,  is  he?  Got  any 
sense  f  " 

"  I  didn't  examine  him,"  said  Tom  with  a  laugh. 
"  I  thought  him  quite  a  decent  fellow.  He  was 
very  good-tempered  with  Tim,  who  was  a  trifle 
taken  aback  when  he  learned  that  he  had  ordered  off 
the  son  of  the  prime  minister." 

"And  a  precious  prime  minister  he  is!  Mark  my 
words,  Tom,  the  country's  going  to  the  dogs.  To  the 
dogs!  We're  dropping  behind,  Tom,  and  Langside 
hasn't  the  grit  to  prevent  it." 

"  Mr.  Oliphant  suggested  that  a  word  to  his  father 
might  induce  him  to  buy  the  aeroplane  for  the  coun- 
try." 

"  God  bless  my  soul,  you  mustn't  dream  of  it ! 
Langside  will  be  turned  out  at  the  next  election; 
John  Brooks  will  go  in,  and  he's  the  man  to  steer 
this  old  country  through.  No,  no!  and  if  young 


TOM  MAKES  EXPERIMENTS 

Oliphant  blabs  a  word  of  it  to  his  father,  I'll  —  I'll  — • 
Yes,  my  love  — "  as  Mrs.  Greatorex  entered  — "  we 
were  talking  about  our  new  neighbor,  Lord  Langside. 
It  appears  that  his  son  and  daughter  have  come 
down." 

"  Oh,  John,  do  you  think  I  should  call  ?  " 
"  On  no  account,  my  dear.     I  hate  Langside's  poli- 
tics, and  we'll  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.     Now, 
Tom.  give  Mrs.  Greatorex  your  arm." 


37 


CHAPTER  IV 


A  few  mornings  after  the  meeting  with  Raymond 
Oliphant,  Tom,  coming  down  to  breakfast,  found  Mr. 
Greatorex  in  a  state  of  high  excitability,  with  the 
Times  outspread  before  him. 

"What  did  I  say,  Tom!"  he  shouted.  "Didn't  I 
tell  you  the  country  was  going  to  the  dogs!  What 
do  you  think  of  this,  now  ?  " 

He  read  out  a  short  paragraph. 

"'Information  has  just  reached  the  foreign  office  that  Sir 
Mark  Ingleton,  who  recently  left  London  on  a  diplomatic  mis- 
sion to  Morocco,  has  been1  captured  by  tribesmen  and  carried 
off  to  the  hills.  Strong  pressure  is  being  brought  to  bear  on 
the  sultan  to  take  steps  against  the  offenders ;  but  if,  as  is 
feared,  Sir  Mark  Ingleton's  captor  is  the  notorious  rebel  whose 
headquarters  are  at  Zemmur,  there  is  little  hope  of  the  sultan 
in  his  present  state  of  impotence  being  able  to  make  his  authority 
felt.' " 

"  That's  what  happened  to  a  servant  of  the  British 
Crown  under  Langside's  administration !  "  said  Mr. 
Greatorex  hotly.  "  Strong  pressure,  indeed !  It 
wants  a  fleet,  an  expedition,  a  few  quick-firers  and 
Long  Toms." 

"  But  wouldn't  that  make  a  blaze ! "  said  Tom 

38 


A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR 

quietly.  "  In  the  present  state  of  affairs  it  might  give 
rise  to  no  end  of  complications  in  Europe,  too." 

"  Don't  tell  me!  "  cried  Mr.  Greatorex,  banging  his 
fist  on  the  paper.  "  We're  sinking  into  a  state  of 
jelly-fish;  any  one  can  poke  us  and  smack  us  and  we 
simply  go  in.  This'll  smash  the  Government;  that's 
one  good  thing;  and  we'll  see  what  John  Brooks  can 
do  when  he's  at  the  helm." 

Later  in  the  day  Raymond  Oliphant,  who  was  now 
a  privileged  visitor,  adverted  to  the  subject. 

"  Thank  your  stars  you  are  not  prime  minister, 
Dorrell,"  he  said.  "  The  pater  came  down  for  the 
week-end,  and  he's  nearly  off  his  chump,  poor  old 
chap!  He  knew  about  this  kidnapping  three  days 
ago,  before  it  got  into  the  papers,  and  he  went  back 
to  town  this  morning  prepared  for  squalls  in  the 
House." 

"  Can't  he  do  anything?  " 

"  He  says  not.  One  of  the  Opposition  rags  was 
screaming  about  an  expedition  on  Saturday,  but  of 
course  that  can't  be  risked.  And  it  might  fail  after 
all  —  just  as  the  Gordon  expedition  did.  That  Moor- 
ish brigand  might  kill  Ingleton  if  hard-pressed." 

"  But  what  would  he  gain  by  that  ?  He's  playing 
for  a  ransom,  I  suppose." 

"  No,  there's  more  in  it  than  that.  We've  already 
offered  an  enormous  ransom  through  the  sultan;  but 
the  rebel  wants  to  get  certain  concessions  out  of  the 
sultan,  and  thinks  he'll  manage  it  by  getting  the  sultan 
into  hot  water  with  us.  I  say,  what  a  pity  your 

39 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

aeroplane  isn't  fit  for  the  job!  What  a  grand  idea  it 
would  be  to  snap  up  the  prisoner  under  the  very  noses 
of  his  captors !  I  suppose  it  isn't  up  to  it,  eh  ?  " 

Tom  shook  his  head. 

"  I  couldn't  trust  it  to  go  so  far.  You  see,  here 
the  workshop  is  at  hand,  and  if  anything  goes  wrong 
it  can  be  easily  repaired.  It  would  be  rather  a  poor 
lookout  if  the  thing  came  to  grief  in  the  Bay  of  Bis- 
cay, say,  and  I  came  souse  into  the  sea." 

"  It  would  be  rather  rotten.  Well,  let's  have  a  spin 
now." 

The  two  mounted  the  car,  and  spent  an  hour  in 
wheeling  about  the  inclosure.  Tom  ventured  to  set 
the  motors  at  a  higher  speed  than  he  had  before  tried, 
and  put  the  aeroplane  through  a  score  of  evolutions 
which  demonstrated  that  he  had  it  perfectly  under 
control.  Oliphant  in  his  enthusiasm  returned  again 
to  the  matter  of  the  captured  envoy. 

"  I  say,  is  it  quite  out  of  the  question,  d'you  think  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  Afraid  so.     Perhaps  in  a  few  months  — " 

"  That's  no  good,"  interrupted  his  companion. 
'  The  occasion  will  be  passed.  Ingleton  will  be  either 
released  or  dead,  and  in  any  case,  there'll  be  such  a 
terrific  agitation  against  the  pater  that  he'll  be  forced 
to  resign.  He  wouldn't  mind  personally;  but  there's 
the  country,  you  see.  Can't  you  risk  it?  " 

"  I  might  if  only  myself  were  concerned ;  but  there's 
Mr.  Greatorex  to  reckon  with.  The  whole  thing's 
only  experimental.  I'm  sure  he  wouldn't  hear  of  it." 

40 


A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR 

"  Politics  is  a  rotten  game !  Wish  we  were  back 
in  the  times  before  Whigs  and  Tories  were  invented." 

"  And  unpopular  ministers  lost  their  heads.  Now 
I'm  going  to  let  her  down.  See  how  near  she  falls 
to  the  perpendicular." 

He  flung  a  hammer  out  of  the  car,  stopped  the 
horizontal  motion  and  started  the  vertical,  adjusted 
the  planes,  and  descended  gently  to  the  ground. 

"  That's  better,"  he  cried,  when  he  had  measured 
the  distance  between  the  aeroplane  and  the  hammer; 
"it's  only  a  dozen  yards.  We're  getting  on.  Really, 
I  wish  I  could  try  your  suggestion." 

"Shall  I  mention  it  to  the  pater?"  said  Oliphant 
eagerly. 

"  Not  on  any  account,"  said  Tom,  aghast.  "  Even 
if  I  could  do  it,  he  of  all  men  must  not  know." 

"  I  don't  see  why." 

"  Supposing  I  tried  it  and  came  a  cropper,  there'd 
be  a  double  outcry  against  him;  the  first  for  not  res- 
cuing Sir  Mark  Ingleton,  the  second  for  allowing  a 
crack-brained  engineer  to  make  a  fool  of  himself,  and 
a  corpse  in  the  bargain.  No,  give  it  up;  I  don't  see 
any  help  for  it." 

But  when  left  to  himself,  Tom  could  not  keep  his 
thoughts  from  Oliphant's  suggestion.  The  adven- 
turous idea  captivated  his  imagination;  he  began  to 
consider  it  in  earnest;  he  spent  several  hours  of  the 
afternoon  in  further  experimenting  with  the  aero- 
plane, and  after  dinner,  when  Mr.  Greatorex  and  he 
went  out  into  the  grounds  for  their  customary  stroll 

41 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

and  cigarettes,  he  broached  the  subject,  in  a  casual 
way,  and  in  much  the  same  terms  as  Oliphant  had 
used. 

"  Pity  we  couldn't  take  a  trip  to  Morocco  and  get 
Ingleton  away,"  he  said  cautiously. 

"  Eh !  Pull  Langside's  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire ! 
He  was  a  fool  to  send  the  man  to  Morocco.  I 
wouldn't  if  I  could,  and  of  course  it's  impossible." 

"  I'm  not  sure  of  that.  And  it  isn't  a  party  mat- 
ter, really." 

"  Not  party !     It's  all  party." 

"  Sir  Mark  Ingleton  is  an  agent  of  the  Crown,  sir, 
and  the  Crown  is  above  party.  I  think  in  these  mat- 
ters we  might  sink  our  differences." 

"  Yes,  and  sink  our  aeroplane,  and  drown  ourselves, 
and  serve  us  right." 

But  opposition  was  only  a  stimulus  to  Tom.  He 
began  to  argue  the  matter  strenuously.  Mr.  Great- 
orex,  to  do  him  justice,  was  no  bigot.  His  politics 
was  at  bottom  a  particularly  intense  form  of  patriot- 
ism; and  when  Tom  showed  him  that  there  were  at 
any  rate  possibilities  in  his  suggestion  he  gradually 
changed  his  view,  forgot  his  reluctance  to  help  a  po- 
litical opponent,  and  became  indeed  quite  enthusiastic. 

"  By  George,  Tom ! "  he  exclaimed ;  "  what  a 
grand  send-off  it  would  be  to  your  invention  if  the 
first  use  of  it  were  the  rescue  of  this  unfortunate 
diplomatist!  And  what  a  magnificent  thing  for  the 
country.  Come  and  let's  talk  it  out  over  a  cup  of 
coffee.  Not  a  word  before  Mrs.  Greatorex,  mind." 

42 


A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR 

"  Well,  John,  are  you  pleased  with  your  toy  ? " 
said  that  good  lady,  when  they  reentered  the  house. 

"  Quite,  my  dear,  quite" 

"  It  will  be  quite  a  feature  of  our  garden  party. 
But  I  hope  Tom  will  make  sure  that  it  is  absolutely 
safe  before  he  takes  anybody  up  at  half-a-crown  a 
ride.  I  shall  be  glad  of  the  half-crowns  for  my 
Nursing  Association,  but  I  should  never  forgive  you  if 
any  one  were  hurt." 

"  Why,  my  dear,  the  half-crowns  would  go  to  pay 
the  nurses" 

Mr.  Greatorex  and  Tom  had  a  long  talk  in  the 
study  that  night.  Up  to  the  present  the  longest 
journey  the  aeroplane  had  taken  without  descending 
was,  as  Tom  estimated,  about  forty  miles.  Then 
something  had  always  occurred  to  make  a  descent 
necessary.  The  principal  stumbling-block  had  been 
the  overheating  of  the  motors.  But  Tom  suggested 
that  if  he  were  content  with  a  speed  of  about  twenty- 
five  miles  an  hour,  a  greater  distance  might  be  cov- 
ered without  this  risk. 

The  practical  question  was,  could  the  machine  be 
brought  so  near  the  place  of  the  diplomatist's  captivity 
as  to  make  a  dash  upon  it  practicable?  From  the 
latest  report  in  the  evening  paper  it  appeared  that  the 
prisoner  was  held  in  a  mountain  fastness  some  eighty 
miles  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Tom  got  out  a 
map,  and  pointed  out  the  spot.  It  did  not  seem  im- 
possible to  reach  it  by  means  of  the  airship  from  some 
convenient  place  on  the  coast. 

43 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  D'you  know  what  occurs  to  me  ? "  said  Tom. 
"  You  were  talking  of  a  yachting  cruise  in  the  Dandy 
Dinmont  in  September.  Why  not  make  it  a  little 
earlier?  I  could  then  go  in  the  airship,  and  you  in 
the  yacht;  and  we  could  make  that  a  kind  of  floating 
base,  taking  in  it  all  materials  necessary  for  repairs." 

"  But  you  couldn't  repair  the  thing  without  letting 
it  down  on  the  deck." 

"  I  could  do  that,  I  think.  To-day  I  came  down 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  spot  I  aimed  at,  and  I  could 
let  the  machine  down  on  deck  if  the  yacht  were  not 
rolling  or  pitching  too  much." 

"  But  hang  it  all,  Tom,  the  deck  wasn't  made  for 
such  a  purpose." 

"  No ;  but  it  wouldn't  take  long  to  rig  up  a  tem- 
porary wooden  platform  and  framework  over  the  af- 
ter part  of  the  vessel  to  serve  as  a  landing-stage." 

"  You  appear  to  have  thought  it  all  out,"  said  Mr. 
Greatorex.  "  D'you  want  to  rush  me  off  my  feet?  " 

"Not  a  bit,"  replied  Tom,  smiling.  "You'll  be 
safe  on  deck." 

"  Well,  how  long  will  it  take  to  get  everything 
ready?" 

"  A  week." 

"  Very  well.  I'll  write  off  to  Bodgers  to-night  to 
trim  the  yacht.  The  rest  I  leave  to  you.  And  mind, 
not  a  word  to  a  soul." 

"  I  think  I  shall  have  to  tell  Oliphant.  In  fact,  it 
was  he  that  put  it  into  my  head." 

(<  That's  a  nuisance !  Well,  we'll  have  him  to  din- 

44 


A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR 

ner  to-morrow.  I  want  to  take  stock  of  him.  Not 
a  word  till  I  have  sized  him  up." 

Oliphant  came  to  dinner  with  his  sister  and  was 
approved.  Mrs.  Greatorex  afterward  pronounced 
him  to  be  "  quite  a  nice  boy."  Mr.  Greatorex  used 
different  terms. 

"  He's  no  fool,  and  don't  talk  too  much,"  he  said. 

The  three  had  a  very  animated  discussion  as  they 
walked  in  the  cool  of  the  evening.  Mr.  Greatorex 
was  very  emphatic  on  the  point  of  secrecy. 

"  We  don't  want  any  newspaper  fellow  to  get  wind 
of  the  airship  until  we've  proved  it,"  he  said.  "  A 
pretty  fool  I  should  look  if  they  gassed  about  it  for 
a  column  or  two  and  then  the  whole  thing  went  pop, 
like  a  paper  balloon.  And  that  Morocco  fellow  will 
have  plenty  of  spies,  of  course;  /  know  their  Eastern 
ways;  and  if  he  got  a  hint  of  what  we're  up  to  he'd 
be  on  his  guard  and  then  there'd  be  fizzle." 

"  How  many  passengers  will  the  machine  carry  ?  " 
asked  Oliphant. 

"  Half  a  dozen  light  weights,  I  should  think,"  Tom 
replied. 

"  You'll  have  room  for  me,  then  ?  " 

"  Good  heavens,  no ! "  cried  Mr.  Greatorex. 
"Couldn't  hear  of  it!" 

"  But  it  was  my  idea,  you  know,  Mr.  Greatorex. 
I  was  only  longing  for  something  to  fill  these  holi- 
days." 

"  Absurd !  Preposterous !  You're  under  age ;  you 
couldn't  go  without  your  father's  permission;  you 

45 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

couldn't  ask  that  without  giving  the  whole  thing  away ; 
and  I  couldn't  be  responsible  for  you." 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  what  it  is,  Mr.  Greatorex.  You  in- 
vite me  to  go  for  a  cruise  in  your  yacht.  The  mater's 
got  a  notion  that  my  lungs  are  weak  and  was  saying 
only  the  other  day  that  a  sea-trip  would  do  me  good. 
I'd  see  some  of  the  fun,  then." 

"There  you  are,  Mr.  Oliphant!  Fun!  I  regard 
it  as  most  serious,  I  assure  you.  Now,  in  my  young 
days—" 

"  I  bet  you  liked  fun  as  well  as  any  of  us,  Mr. 
Greatorex,"  said  Oliphant  quickly.  "  If  the  truth 
were  known,  I  dare  say  you  really  beat  us  all." 

Mr.  Greatorex's  eyes  twinkled. 

"  Well,  now  I  come  to  think  of  it,  I  was  a  wild 
young  rip.  So  they  all  said.  I  remember —  But 
come  now,  I  mustn't  tell  you  that.  Never  do !  Your 
father  would  never  let  you  go;  he  doesn't  know  me, 
and  doesn't  want  to,  and  I'm  doing  my  level  best  to 
kick  him  out  at  the  next  election." 

"And  he'll  probably  be  jolly  glad  if  you  succeed! 
Mayn't  I  come,  Mr.  Greatorex  ?  " 

"  Sorry  to  disoblige  you,  Mr.  Oliphant,  but  it  would 
never  do.  No.  In  fact,  I  think  we'll  give  it  up  al- 
together. Too  risky!  We'll  give  it  up,  Tom." 

Oliphant  went  home  in  a  very  bad  temper. 

"  Mrs.  Greatorex  is  a  dear  old  thing,"  said  his 
sister. 

"And  Mr.  Greatorex  is  an  old  rotter,"  retorted 
Raymond  in  a  tone  of  disgust. 

46 


A  PRISONER  IN  ZEMMUR 

Margaret  Oliphant  obtained  very  unsatisfactory  an- 
swers to  the  questions  to  which  this  remark  gave  rise, 
and  concluded  that  in  some  way  Raymond  had  not 
hit  it  with  his  host. 

Mr.  Greatorex  would  doubtless  have  been  much 
surprised  had  he  seen  the  letter  which  Lord  Langside 
wrote  to  his  son  a  few  days  later. 

"  My  dear  Ray/'  wrote  the  prime  minister.  "  Are 
you  conspiring  against  me,  like  Absalom?  Mr. 
Greatorex  can't  do  me  much  harm  on  a  yacht.  He 
won't  see  a  newspaper  for  a  month !  Hope  you'll  en- 
joy yourself.  Your  affectionate 

Dad." 

Oliphant  showed  this  letter  to  no  one.  But  the 
day  he  received  it,  he  went  a  long  and  tedious  journey 
by  train  across  country  to  the  little  port  of  Horleston. 
He  reached  home  very  late,  but  in  much  better  spirits 
than  might  have  been  expected  after  such  a  tiresome 
experience  of  slow  trains. 


CHAPTER  V 

OFF  THE   BARBARY    COAST 

The  week  was  filled  with  the  bustle  of  preparation. 
The  airship  was  divided  into  sections,  the  motors  and 
the  framework  taken  to  pieces,  and  the  whole  packed 
into  large  light  crates  and  conveyed  to  the  coast  on 
country  carts,  their  arrival  at  Horleston  being  so 
timed  that  everything  could  be  put  on  board  very 
early  in  the  morning.  Beside  the  crew,  the  company 
consisted  only  of  Mr.  Greatorex,  Tom  Dorrell,  and 
Timothy  Ball. 

Before  the  vessel  put  off,  a  custom-house  officer 
came  aboard,  and  showed  himself  somewhat  inquisi- 
tive as  to  the  meaning  of  the  strange  platform  newly 
rigged  on  the  after  deck,  and  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
bulky  packages.  Mr.  Greatorex  explained  that  they 
contained  a  cooling  apparatus  which  he  was  taking  out 
to  Morocco  on  behalf  of  an  acquaintance,  adding  that 
by  all  accounts  the  country  was  pretty  hot  in  all  re- 
spects. With  this  explanation  the  officer  had  to  be 
content.  Clearly  the  parts  of  the  airship  did  not  come 
within  the  description  of  explosives,  firearms,  or  other 
articles  on  which  he  might  exercise  his  powers  of  de- 
tention. Still,  being  by  training  suspicious,  he  was 

48 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

evidently  by  no  means  satisfied,  and  left  the  yacht 
somewhat  unwillingly. 

Steam  was  already  up,  and  the  officer  had  barely 
left  the  vessel  before  she  put  to  sea. 

"  Just  as  well  to  be  clear  away  before  he  gets  his 
second  wind,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex  with  a  chuckle. 
In  his  spotless  white  ducks  and  blue  cap  he  was  en- 
joying himself  already.  "  Did  that  uncommonly  well, 
didn't  I,  Tom?"  he  said.  "What  could  be  more 
useful  than  a  cooling  apparatus  when  there's  a  chance 
of  getting  into  very  hot  water,  eh  ?  " 

He  took  a  run  over  the  vessel  as  soon  as  she  had 
made  an  offing.  His  yacht  was  a  hobby,  and  when- 
ever he  went  for  a  cruise  he  liked  to  examine  her  in 
the  company  of  his  officers,  with  whom,  as  with  the 
crew  whom  he  knew  individually,  he  was  very  popular. 
In  the  course  of  his  inspection  he  came  to  the  engine- 
room. 

"  How  do,  Mr.  Mumford !  "  he  said  genially  to  the 
engineer.  "  All  in  good  order,  eh  ?  " 

"  Tiptop,  sir.  This  is  the  neatest  bit  of  machinery 
I've  ever  had  to  do  with." 

"  Glad  to  hear  that.  I  say,  is  that  a  new  stoker  I 
see  there  ?  What's  become  of  Byles  ?  " 

"  His  mother  is  very  ill,  sir,  and  he  had  to  cry  off 
at  the  last  moment.  I  was  very  lucky  to  get  a  man  to 
fill  the  place." 

"  Ha !  Looks  rather  young,  doesn't  he  ?  Any 
good?" 

"  Can't  tell  yet,  sir.  I'll  let  you  know  later  on. 

49 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

He  shapes  very  well.  He's  a  fine  well-made  young 
fellow ;  very  willing,  too.  Byles  said  he'd  go  bail  for 
him  to  any  amount." 

"  That's  all  right.     What's  his  name?  " 

"  McCracken,  sir ;  Scotch,  by  the  name.  Would 
you  like  to  speak  to  him,  sir  ?  " 

"  Just  a  word.  Like  to  know  the  men,  you  know. 
Gives  'em  a  personal  interest  in  their  job,  I  always 
think." 

The  engineer  called  up  the  new  stoker,  a  tall  young 
fellow  in  the  flannel  shirt  open  at  the  neck,  the  loose 
reach-me-down,  and  the  black-lead-coated  trousers 
affected  by  denizens  of  the  stokers'  hold.  His  face 
and  arms  were  begrimed  with  black  grease,  and  his 
mouth  received  an  extra  smudge  as  he  drew  the  back 
of  his  hand  across  it,  apparently  in  sheepish  confu- 
sion. 

"You're  a  new  man,  McCracken,"  said  the  mer- 
chant pleasantly.  "  Hope  you'll  get  on  well.  Mr. 
Mumford  won't  overwork  you,  I  can  answer  for  that. 
Have  you  been  long  at  this  job?  " 

"No,  not  lang,  sir;  just  a  wee  while,"  the  stoker 
replied  in  a  somewhat  husky  voice. 

"Exactly.     Ah!     Well!     Good  morning." 

"  Good  mornin',  sir." 

And  Mr.  Greatorex  went  on  deck,  satisfied  that  he 
had  established  excellent  relations  with  the  newest 
hand. 

The  first  part  of  the  voyage  was  rather  stormy. 
The  yacht,  by  no  means  a  large  vessel,  shipped  one  or  • 

so 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

two  fairly  heavy  seas,  to  the  alarm  of  Tom,  who  was 
anxious  lest  the  crates  containing  his  machine  should 
be  washed  overboard  or  otherwise  injured.  But  half- 
way through  the  bay  the  weather  moderated,  and  by 
the  time  the  yacht  leached  the  latitude  of  Lisbon  both 
wind  and  sea  were  calm  enough,  he  thought,  for  his 
first  experiment.  It  had  been  decided  that  the  dusk 
of  the  evening  would  be  the  best  time  for  the  attempt, 
for  it  was  just  as  necessary  on  sea  as  on  land  to  avoid 
observation.  If  the  airship  were  descried  from  the 
deck  of  a  homeward-bound  vessel,  the  fact,  and  the 
name  of  the  yacht,  might  be  marconigraphed  to  Eng- 
land, and  then,  as  Mr.  Greatorex  said,  all  Fleet  Street 
would  be  in  a  buzz. 

Early  one  morning  the  crates  were  broken  open. 
It  took  the  best  part  of  the  day  to  piece  the  machine 
together,  and  Tom  went  over  it  bit  by  bit  several  times 
to  assure  himself  that  everything  was  in  order.  The 
airship  was  so  placed  that  it  would  take  flight  over 
the  stern  of  the  yacht.  When  dusk  was  falling,  the 
vessel's  engines  were  reversed,  Tom  arranging  that  as 
soon  as  the  airship  rose  from  the  deck  the  yacht  should 
be  sent  full-speed  ahead,  to  make  sure  that  the  ap- 
paratus cleared  the  vessel  and  ran  no  risk  of  fouling 
the  funnel. 

Mr.  Greatorex  had  shown  some  nervousness  as  the 
critical  moment  approached.  He  insisted  on  lowering 
a  boat,  in  case  the  airship  came  to  grief  and  Tom 
were  thrown  into  the  sea.  Timothy  Ball,  too,  looked 
on  with  a  most  woeful  countenance  as  the  final  prepa- 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

rations  were  made.  He  had  unslung  a  life  belt,  ready 
to  slip  into  it  and  fling  himself  overboard  if  the  airship 
broke  down. 

"  I  feel  sure  in  my  inside  it  won't  work,"  he  said 
anxiously  to  Tom,  as  he  stepped  to  the  car.  "  It'll  be 
worse  than  suicide,  sir." 

"  Why  worse,  Tim  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Greatorex. 

"  'Cos  we're  lookin'  on,  sir,"  said  Tim  solemnly, 
and  felt  much  hurt  by  the  burst  of  laughter  with 
which  his  explanation  was  received. 

But  his  anxiety  was  a  vain  expenditure  of  energy. 
With  the  vertical  screws  at  full  speed,  and  the  hori- 
zontal screws  half-speed,  the  machine  rose  like  a  huge 
bird  from  the  deck,  with  a  noise  like  the  clattering  of 
hundreds  of  bats  and  the  humming  of  innumerable 
bees.  At  the  height  of  sixty  feet  or  so  Tom  stopped 
the  vertical  screws,  and  turned  the  full  power  of  his 
engines  on  to  the  horizontal  propellers,  giving  to  the 
planes  just  sufficient  inclination  to  counteract  the  force 
of  gravity. 

"  Capital !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Greatorex,  as  he  watched 
the  easy  flight.  "  First-rate !  There's  a  fortune  in 
that,  skipper,"  he  said  to  Captain  Bodgers  at  his  side. 

"  Maybe,"  said  the  captain  reflectively.  He  was  a 
man  of  few  words. 

"  Rather  stay  on  deck,  eh?  " 

"  Well,  you  can  swim  in  water,  sir." 

"  Exactly.  But  how  far  is  the  fellow  going?  It's 
getting  dark,  and  he'll  be  out  of  sight  directly.  By 
the  way,  Bodgers,  there's  no  law  about  showing  lamps 

52 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

on  an  airship.  But  there  will  be  —  there  will  be. 
Ah !  here  he  comes  —  at  a  spanking  pace,  too.  He'll 
overtake  us  in  no  time,  going  dead  slow  as  we  are." 

In  less  than  a  minute  the  airship  had  come  within 
a  little  distance  astern  of  the  yacht. 

"  Hallo !  "  came  a  voice  from  the  air. 

"  Are  you  there  ?  "  answered  Mr.  Greatorex  from 
force  of  habit  acquired  at  the  telephone. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  came  the  response.  "  I  say,  Mr. 
Greatorex,  pick  up  that  boat  and  go  full  speed  ahead. 
She's  going  beautifully;  the  oiling  she's  had  has  done 
her  no  end  of  good." 

"All  right.  Aren't  you  coming  down?  It's  get- 
ting dark;  I  can  hardly  see  you." 

"  Not  just  yet.  She  goes  smoother  than  the  yacht, 
and  it's  beautifully  fresh  up  here.  I  can  tell  your 
whereabouts  by  your  lights." 

"  All  right.     Don't  get  lost! " 

Tom  laughed.  He  laughed  again  when,  from  his 
elevated  position,  he  saw  that,  though  the  boat  had 
been  hoisted  on  board,  four  men  had  been  told  off  to 
stand  by  the  davits  in  order  to  lower  it  again  at  the 
first  sign  of  mishap. 

The  yacht  was  sent  full-speed  ahead.  She  could 
easily  do  her  eighteen  knots,  but  was  no  match  in 
speed  for  the  airship,  which  circled  round  and  round 
her. 

"  She  beats  us  hollow,"  said  Mr.  Mumford  to  Mc- 
Cracken,  as  they  watched  the  flight  from  the  foot  of 
the  companion. 

S3 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Ou  ay,  sir.  Yon's  a  grand  invention.  It's  won- 
derful!" 

After  about  an  hour  Tom  called  down  that  he  was 
going  to  descend. 

"  He'd  much  better  stay  up  now  he's  there,"  said 
Timothy  gloomily.  "  He'll  smash  himself  or  us  —  I 
know  he  will." 

Tom  knew  that  to  descend  was  a  delicate  operation, 
to  be  performed  with  all  caution.  As  his  control  over 
the  airship  was  to  a  great  extent  proportionate  to  its 
speed,  he  shouted  instructions  to  keep  the  yacht  going 
under  full  steam.  Coming  up  astern,  he  so  adjusted 
his  own  speed  as  to  overtake  the  yacht  very  slowly. 
When  the  airship  was  level  with  the  stern,  two  men 
on  board  caught  a  cable  hanging  loose  from  the  car. 
Then  Tom  gradually  reduced  the  speed  of  the  horizon- 
tal propellers,  and  started  the  vertical  screws  at  half- 
speed,  keeping  one  hand  all  the  time  on  the  lever  that 
adjusted  the  angles  of  the  planes.  He  handled  his 
appliances  so  dexterously  that  the  airship,  guided  by 
the  rope,  sank  steadily  and  accurately  to  the  deck. 
Buffers  of  india  rubber  were  slipped  under  her,  to 
break  the  slight  jar  that  must  be  inevitable  when  she 
touched  the  platform.  Then  Tom  stepped  out. 

"  Capital ! "  cried  Mr.  Greatorex,  slapping  him  on 
the  back.  "  This  is  going  to  turn  out  all  right,  my 
boy.  What  does  it  feel  like,  being  up  there  ?  " 

"Like  a  fish  out  of  water,  I  should  think,"  said 
Tom,  laughing.  "  But  I  thought  what  a  helpless 
thing  a  man-of-war  would  be  if  she  had  to  tackle  an 

54 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

airship.  I  could  choose  my  own  altitude  and  drop 
explosives  on  her  deck  and  blow  her  to  smithereens, 
and  there's  no  gun  that  I  know  of  that  could  make  an 
effective  reply.  They'd  have  to  invent  a  rocket  ap- 
paratus for  shying  melinite  shells  aloft." 

"  Well,  let's  hope  that  it'll  never  come  to  that. 
Ours  is  a  cooling  apparatus  —  don't  you  forget  it !  " 

Tom  was  so  well  pleased  with  his  first  trial  on  the 
sea  that  day  had  scarcely  dawned  before  he  was  again 
aloft.  This  time  he  took  Timothy  with  him.  He 
needed  some  assistance  in  attending  to  the  mechanism, 
and  now  that  a  first  ascent  had  been  made  without 
mishap,  the  man  was  no  longer  filled  with  apprehen- 
sion. 

The  airship  had  not  been  up  more  than  half  an 
hour,  however,  when  Tom  signaled  to  the  yacht  that 
he  saw  a  vessel  on  the  horizon. 

"  Come  down  at  once! "  roared  Mr.  Greatorex 
through  a  megaphone. 

Tom  descended,  somewhat  unwillingly.  Nothing 
would  have  pleased  him  better  than  to  steer  directly 
for  the  vessel,  and  note  what  effect  was  produced  on 
board  by  the  sight  of  this  strange  bird  of  passage, 
hovering  above  the  tops.  But  clearly  Mr.  Greatorex 
was  right ;  and  Tom  lowered  the  machine  deftly  to  the 
deck.  As  the  ship  was  clearly  heading  straight  for 
the  yacht,  he  had  the  aeroplane  covered  over  with  tar- 
paulin. 

The  vessel  turned  out  to  be  a  cruiser  flying  the 
French  colors.  The  captain  spoke  the  yacht,  and 

SS 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

asked  whether  anything  had  been  seen  from  its  deck  of 
an  extraordinary  object  that  appeared  to  have  been 
moving  through  the  air. 

"  Answer  him,  Tom.     I'm  no  good  at  French." 

"  We  did  see  something,  Monsieur  le  Capitaine," 
he  said.  "  Do  you  know  whether  Monsieur  Santos- 
Dumont  is  trying  his  thirty-third  airship  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  aware,  Monsieur.  It  may  be.  I  saw 
the  object  very  indistinctly.  It  suddenly  disappeared." 

"  Ah !  I  was  always  afraid  that  Monsieur  Santos- 
Dumont  would  meet  his  death.  You  French,  Mon- 
sieur, are  such  adventurous  spirits !  When  you  reach 
Brest  perhaps  you  will  inquire  whether  he  has  recently 
made  an  ascent." 

"  I  shall  certainly  do  so,  Monsieur." 

The  vessels  were  now  out  of  speaking  distance. 
Tom  explained  to  Mr.  Greatorex  what  he  had  said : 

"  Bravo !  What  with  my  cooling  apparatus  and 
your  cool  cheek  I  think  we  are  keeping  our  secret 
pretty  well,  Tom." 

In  order  to  escape  further  observation  from  pass- 
ing vessels  Mr.  Greatorex  had  the  yacht's  course  set 
somewhat  westward  of  the  usual  track.  It  was  con- 
sequently another  couple  of  days  before  she  came  into 
the  latitude  of  Rabat,  the  port  for  which  she  was  mak- 
ing. Her  head  was  turned  eastward  in  the  direction 
of  the  coast  of  Morocco,  and,  there  being  no  vessels 
in  sight,  Tom  again  made  an  ascent,  Timothy  ac- 
companying him. 

The  coast-line  gradually  came  into  view.  From  an 

56 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

altitude  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet  Tom  saw,  be- 
tween him  and  the  coast,  a  number  of  rocky  islets. 
Here  and  there  the  varying  tints  of  the  water  indicated 
shoals  of  sunken  rocks. 

"Know  the  coast?"  he  called  down  to  Captain 
Bodgers. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  said  the  captain. 

"  There  are  no  end  of  shoals." 

"  Know  'em  all,  sir.  Have  a  care  you  don't  strike 
one." 

Bodgers  laughed  uproariously  at  his  little  joke,  and 
Tom,  circling  round  the  yacht,  set  the  aeroplane  at  full 
speed  towards  the  coast.  He  was  a  considerable  dis- 
tance ahead  when  Timothy  suddenly  called  his  atten- 
tion to  an  object  projecting  above  the  sea-level,  close 
to  one  of  the  rocky  islets  that  dotted  the  intervening 
space.  It  might  have  escaped  their  attention  alto- 
gether but  for  a  certain  movement  Tim  fancied  he  dis- 
cerned in  it.  As  they  drew  nearer,  they  discovered 
that  what  Tim  had  thought  to  be  a  single  object  was 
in  reality  two,  which  appeared  to  be  the  broken-off 
stumps  of  two  masts.  Taking  his  field-glasses  in  one 
hand  —  the  other  always  grasping  the  steering  wheel, 
Tom  lifted  them  to  his  eyes,  got  the  focus,  and  made 
out  that  they  were  not  stumps  after  all,  but  the  tops 
of  masts,  and  that  two  figures  were  clinging  to  them, 
one  to  each. 

Tom  had  no  doubt  that  the  airship  was  approaching 
the  scene  of  a  wreck,  and  that  the  two  men  were  in 
distress  and  danger.  Steering  immediately  for  the 

57 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

yacht,  he  came  within  hailing  distance  and  through 
his  megaphone  announced  his  discovery. 

"AVe'll  go  to  the  rescue,  of  course,"  shouted  Mr. 
Greatorex  in  reply. 

The  wreck  was  as  yet  invisible  from  the  deck,  but 
it  was  arranged  that  the  yacht  should  stand  in  as  close 
as  possible,  and  then  send  a  boat  to  bring  off  the  sur- 
vivors. Meanwhile  Tom,  setting  his  engine  at  full 
speed,  dashed  on  in  the  direction  of  the  submerged 
vessel. 

He  noticed  that  even  during  the  few  seconds  in 
which  he  had  been  in  communication  with  the  yacht 
the  situation  had  changed.  One  of  the  masts  was 
now  tenantless.  Presumably  its  occupant  had  been 
washed  off,  or  through  fatigue  had  dropped  into  the 
sea.  But  as  the  airship  drew  rapidly  nearer,  it  was 
noticed  that  the  figure  on  the  other  mast  was  bending 
low  as  if  to  raise  something  from  the  water.  Then  a 
head  and  shoulders  appeared  above  the  surface. 
Clearly  the  man  Tom  had  supposed  to  be  lost  was  try- 
ing to  make  his  way  to  the  mast  to  which  his  com- 
panion clung. 

The  airship  was  now  less  than  half  a  mile  distant, 
and  from  the  altitude  to  which  they  had  now  risen  — 
some  three  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  —  the  oc- 
cupants could  see  every  detail  in  the  strange  drama 
that  was  now  being  enacted  beneath  him.  Assisted  by 
the  figure  above,  the  swimmer  was  gradually  making 
his  way  on  to  the  mast,  when  suddenly  a  black  fin 
appeared  above  the  surface  a  few  yards  off.  With  a 

58 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

convulsive  movement,  the  lowermost  man  had  just 
succeeded  in  swinging  himself  a  foot  or  two  up  the 
mast  when  the  gaping  jaws  of  a  shark  passed  imme- 
diately beneath  him.  Tom  shuddered  involuntarily. 
The  man  had  escaped  by  a  few  inches  at  the  most. 

In  a  second  the  shark  turned  and  glided  beneath 
the  clinging  figure.  The  terror-stricken  wretch 
clutched  wildly  at  the  man  above  him,  and  began  to 
haul  himself  up  hand  over  hand,  clinging  to  his  com- 
panion's body.  But  the  latter,  unable  to  bear  the 
double  weight  on  the  smooth  mast,  slipped  slowly 
downward.  He  was  the  slighter  of  the  two,  and  no 
match,  apparently,  for  the  man  who  had  usurped  his 
place. 

"  What  a  beast ! "  ejaculated  Tom,  wondering  at 
this  strange  want  of  fellow-feeling  in  a  man  who  was 
evidently  older  and  stronger  than  his  companion  in 
distress.  Slowing  down,  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the 
extraordinary  spectacle.  The  position  was  now  re- 
versed. The  younger  and  slighter  man  was  now 
very  manifestly  the  under  dog.  With  every  attempt 
on  his  part  to  swarm  up  the  mast,  the  man  above 
him  kicked  savagely,  while  the  shark  circled  below. 
The  fact  that  the  second  mast  had  become  untenable 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  tide  was  rising.  Neither 
of  the  men,  their  whole  attention  fixed  on  the  sea  be- 
neath had  noticed  the  airship  that  was  now  hovering 
just  above  their  heads. 

\Vhen,  however,  Tom  gradually  allowed  the  airship 
to  sink  toward  the  sea,  the  shark  seemed  to  take 

59 


fright,  just  as  smaller  fish  are  scared  by  signs  of  move- 
ment in  the  air  above.  It  left  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  the  mast,  and  its  black  fin  could  be  seen 
describing  a  much  larger  circle  some  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  away.  Clearly  it  had  not  given  up 
hope.  When  the  shark  moved  away  and  the  strain 
of  terror  was  relaxed,  the  two  men  became  suddenly 
aware  of  the  presence  of  the  airship.  The  topmost 
man  was  almost  as  much  scared  by  the  sight  of  the 
airship  as  he  had  been  by  the  presence  of  the  shark. 
Tom  had  already  noticed  that  both  of  the  men  were 
dark  skinned.  The  larger  and  stronger  —  the  brute,  as 
Tom  mentally  called  him  —  appeared  to  be  middle- 
aged;  the  other  was  a  stripling. 

Tom  was  struck  by  the  difference  in  their  de- 
meanor when  they  caught  sight  of  the  airship; 
neither  he  nor  Timothy  was  at  present  visible  to  them. 
The  elder  man  was  aghast  with  fright,  his  eyes  di- 
lated, his  mouth  gaped  between  black  mustache  and 
beard.  The  younger,  however,  seemed  to  pull  him- 
self together  as  with  renewed  hope.  Tom  fancied 
that  he  heard  a  cry  from  his  lips. 

Looking  round,  Tom  saw  that  the  yacht  had  now 
hove  to,  and  the  boat  was  leaving  her  side.  But  his 
attention  was  again  called  to  the  wreck  by  a  piercing 
shriek.  The  shark,  regaining  confidence,  had  made 
another  dash  at  the  mast.  This  time  it  seemed  to 
come  within  an  inch  of  the  terrified  youth;  indeed, 
from  the  cry  that  had  reached  his  ears,  Tom  thought 
that  the  poor  wretch  had  actually  been  seized.  But 

60 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST. 

next  moment  he  saw  that  the  shark  had  again  drawn 
off,  scared,  possibly,  by  the  cry. 

There  was  now  less  of  the  masts  above  the  surface. 
The  tide  was  evidently  rising,  and  with  its  rise  the 
shark  would  have  another  opportunity  of  coming 
•within  snapping  distance.  Tom  felt  that  it  would 
not  again  fail.  It  would  be  at  least  ten  minutes  be- 
fore the  boat  reached  the  spot ;  by  that  time  the  hapless 
lad  would  probably  have  fallen  a  victim.  Tom  had 
noticed  that  when  the  shark  was  all  but  upon  him,  and 
he  made  a  convulsive  movement  upward,  he  was  met 
by  a  storm  of  kicks  from  the  man  above,  threatening 
to  dislodge  him  completely  from  the  mast  and  hurl 
him  into  the  very  jaws  of  the  monster. 

In  a  moment  Tom  made  up  his  mind.  He  ordered 
Timothy  to  let  down  from  the  car  a  light  grapnel  car- 
ried for  use  in  emergencies,  and  also  for  raising  any- 
thing that  might  be  needed,  without  having  to  bring 
the  airship  to  rest  on  the  ground.  Then  he  allowed 
the  machine  to  sink  gently  until  the  grapnel  dangled 
within  reach  of  the  man  at  the  top.  Tom  had  no  in- 
tention of  helping  him  first;  by  his  conduct  he  de- 
served to  be  left  to  drown  or  to  make  a  meal  for  the 
shark.  But  the  man  seemed  indeed  quite  incapable 
of  movement,  except  when  scared  to  frenzy  by  the 
efforts  of  the  youth  below  to  regain  the  position  from 
which  he  had  been  forced.  He  made  no  attempt  to 
clutch  the  grapnel  dangling  at  his  very  hand.  Tom 
let  the  machine  fall  lower,  until  the  grapnel  came 
within  reach  of  the  younger  man.  He  showed  no 

61 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

such  hesitation.  Looking  along  the  cable,  he  saw 
Timothy  gazing  down  at  him  from  the  car.  The 
sight  of  a  human  face  gave  him  confidence.  He 
clutched  at  the  grapnel,  let  go  his  hold  of  the  mast, 
and  swung  clear,  Timothy  attempting  to  steady  the 
rope. 

His  sudden  movement  threatened  a  catastrophe. 
The  airship  was  now  only  about  sixty  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  before  Tom,  his  attention  partly  engaged  by 
the  efforts  of  the  boy,  could  increase  the  speed  of  the 
ascensional  screw,  the  light  vessel  was  pulled  swiftly 
downwards.  For  a  moment  he  felt  that  it  must  in- 
evitably be  dragged  into  the  water.  The  young  fel- 
low below,  still  clutching  desperately  at  the  grapnel, 
had  actually  begun  to  sink  beneath  the  surface.  But 
as  soon  as  his  weight  was  supported  by  the  water,  the 
ascensional  screw,  now  set  by  Tom  whirling  at  full 
speed,  checked  the  downward  movement,  and  in  an- 
other couple  of  seconds  the  airship  began  to  rise, 
dragging  the  youth  upwards. 

In  his  excitement  Tom  had  momentarily  forgotten 
the  shark.  That  persistent  creature,  however,  having 
overcome  its  fear  of  the  monster  of  the  air,  made  a 
dash  for  the  youth  as  he  entered  the  sea.  The  poor 
wretch  had  the  narrowest  escape  of  all  when  the  shark 
passed  just  beneath  him,  as,  whirling  round  on  the 
grapnel,  he  was  swung  clear  of  the  water. 

Now  that  he  was  safe  from  the  cruel  jaws,  the  lad 
showed  himself  to  be  possessed  of  no  little  agility. 
Hand  over  hand  he  swarmed  up  the  cable  until  he 

62 


OFF  THE  BARBARY  COAST 

reached  the  lower  rail  of  the  car,  which  he  clutched, 
and  by  Timothy's  aid  he  clambered  over.  Mean- 
while Tom  had  steered  the  airship  towards  the  ap- 
proaching boat. 

"  Give  way  with  a  will,  men ! "  he  shouted. 
"  There's  no  time  to  be  lost.  We've  got  one ;  the  other 
man  will  be  nabbed  by  a  shark  if  you  aren't  there 
pretty  soon.  I  can  see  the  brute's  fin  above  the  water 
just  by  the  mast." 

The  men  spurted.  As  the  boat  approached  the  sub- 
merged vessel,  the  shark  took  fright  and  glided  swiftly 
away.  In  another  half-minute  the  man  was  taken 
from  his  precarious  perch,  and  lifted,  in  a  state  of 
complete  collapse  into  the  boat. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SALATHIEL  BEN   EZRA 

"  Bismillah !  "  ejaculated  the  young  Moor  when  he 
stood  in  the  car. 

"  Just  saved  your  bacon,  if  that's  what  you  mean," 
said  Timothy.  "  And  a  nice  sloppy  mess  you're 
makin' !  I  s'pose  I'll  have  to  clean  up." 

Timothy  scowled  and  growled,  but  that  was  only 
his  way.  Tom  knew  well  enough  that  Timothy 
would  clean  up  with  great  cheerfulness. 

"  We'll  get  back  to  the  yacht,"  he  said,  "  and  find 
some  dry  things  for  him  there." 

The  airship  was  now  so  well  under  control  that 
Tom  had  no  difficulty  in  letting  her  down  safely  on 
deck,  though  the  yacht  was  at  anchor. 

"  Uncommonly  well  done !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Great- 
orex  as  Tom  stepped  out  of  the  car. 

"  Yes ;  I  thought  she  came  down  pretty  neatly," 
said  Tom. 

"  Didn't  mean  that,  you  egoist.  I  meant  you  saved 
this  young  fellow  uncommonly  well;  saw  it  all 
through  my  binocular.  Dangerous  things,  sharks. 
Who  is  the  boy?" 

"  I  haven't  asked  him  yet.  I  thought  we  might 

64 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

give  him  a  dry  change  and  then  see  if  we  can  make 
out  anything.     He  probably  can't  speak  English." 

"  Very  well.  Bodgers,  find  some  toggery  and  take 
him  into  the  cabin.  Who's  the  other  fellow  ?  " 

"  We  shall  find  out  presently.  Shall  we  go  into 
the  cabin  ?  I'd  like  to  put  a  few  questions  before  the 
other  man  comes  aboard." 

They  found  that  Captain  Bodgers  had  rigged  up 
the  boy  in  a  sailor's  suit  much  too  large  for  him. 

"  Capital !  "  cried  JMr.  Greatorex.  "  Much  more 
respectable !  Can  you  speak  English,  boy  ?  " 

"  Me  speak  English  little  bit,  and  Spanish  little 
bit,"  replied  the  boy  with  a  frank  smile. 

"  That's  capital.  Not  the  Spanish,  you  know ;  but 
the  English." 

"  I  t'ank  very  much  for  the  gentleman's  good- 
ness —  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  that's  all  right.  But  come  now,  how 
did  you  get  into  that  pretty  pickle  ?  " 

The  boy  looked  puzzled. 

"  Tell  us  how  the  ship  came  to  be  wrecked,"  said 
Tom,  translating. 

"  Aiyeh !  She  caught  in  fog  last  night,  struck 
rock.  Quick  it  was  all  over;  no  one  live,  only  me 
and  Salathiel  ben  Ezra." 

"  That  is  your  friend's  name,  is  it  ?     A  Jew  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Excellency,  a  Jew.     A  dog  of  a  Jew !  " 

"  And  you  are  not  a  Jew?     What  is  your  name?  " 

"Abdul,  Most  Merciful  —  Abdul  ben  Cassim,  of 
Ain  Afroo  in  Zemmur." 

65 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"Zemmur!"  ejaculated  Mr.  Greatorex.  "Isn't 
that  the  neighborhood  where  Ingleton  is  said  to  be  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Tom.  "  We  may  find  the  lad  use- 
ful. Tell  us,  Abdul,  how  you  came  to  be  at  sea  with 
a  Jew." 

Abdul  explained  that,  some  five  or  six  years  before, 
his  father,  a  well-to-do  saddlemaker  of  Ain  Afroo, 
had  contrived  to  quarrel  with  the  sheik  of  his  district, 
refusing,  in  fact,  to  pay  the  sheik  a  very  extortionate 
levy.  It  was,  Abdul  admitted,  a  foolish  thing  to  do, 
for  soon  afterward  the  saddlemaker  died  mys- 
teriously. His  family  took  instant  flight  with  what 
possessions  they  could  get  together,  and  found  refuge 
in  Casa  Blanca,  where  the  boy  had  a  distant  relative, 
the  owner  of  a  small  coasting  vessel.  Since  that  time 
he  had  been  engaged  in  trading  up  and  down  the  coast, 
and  in  his  journeyings  had  picked  up  a  smattering  of 
English  and  Spanish. 

The  small  capital  which'  the  family  had  brought 
with  them  had  been  considerably  increased  by  profita- 
ble investments  in  trading  ventures  of  the  lad's  kins- 
man. A  share  in  the  business  was  owned  by  Salathiel 
ben  Ezra,  the  Jew  who  was  now  being  brought  from 
the  wreck  in  the  yacht's  boat.  It  was  very  unlucky; 
Abdul  could  not  but  think  that  the  wreck  must  have 
been  caused  by  an  evil  spell  cast  on  the  boat  by  the 
Jew;  for  Salathiel  had  never  voyaged  on  the  vessel 
before.  The  loss  of  the  ship  meant  the  loss  of  almost 
the  whole  of  his  family's  little  fortune,  and  Abdul 
feared  they  would  be  placed  in  the  power  of  Salathiel, 

66 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

who  already  had  some  claim  on  them  which  Abdul 
himself  did  not  understand.  But  everything  hap- 
pened by  the  will  of  Allah;  it  was  written,  and  what 
is  written  must  be. 

Abdul's  story  was  hardly  finished  when  the  Jew  was 
hauled  on  board.  He  appeared  to  have  quite  regained 
his  self-possession  during  the  short  passage  of  the 
boat.  He  made  a  deep  obeisance  when  Mr.  Greatorex 
met  him  on  deck. 

"  I  pay  a  thousand  dutiful  civilities,"  he  said  in  a 
low  smooth  voice.  "  The  honorable  sir  overwhelms 
me  with  kindness  in  saving  me  and  my  humble  com- 
panion from  the  jaws  of  the  monster,  and  my  thanks 
are  even  as  the  sands  of  the  shore.  May  I  beg  the 
little  loan  of  a  dry  garment  or  two?  " 

"  Take  Mr.  Salathiel  below,  Captain  Bodgers," 
said  Mr.  Greatorex,  "  and  see  what  you  can  do  for 
him." 

With  a  deep  salaam  and  a  fawning  smile  the  Jew 
departed. 

"  Um !  "  grunted  Mr.  Greatorex.  "  Don't  like  his 
looks,  Tom." 

"  He's  not  prepossessing,  certainly ;  a  little  too  glib, 
don't  you  think  ?  " 

"  A  rascal,  Tom ;  mark  my  words." 

"  I  wouldn't  go  so  far  as  that.  But  we  may  get 
something  out  of  this,  Mr.  Greatorex.  This  young 
Moor  comes  from  the  very  country  where  Ingleton 
is  said  to  be.  Don't  you  think  we  may  profit  by 
that?" 

67 


"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  instead  of  making  for  Rabat,  as  we  in- 
tended, why  not  find  some  quieter  harbor  where  we 
shall  not  be  such  public  characters,  and  get  the  young- 
ster to  act  as  guide  into  the  hills  ?  No  doubt  he  bears 
a  grudge  against  the  sheik  who  disposed  of  his  father. 
If  he  has  anything  of  the  usual  oriental  thirst  for  re- 
venge he  will  be  very  willing  to  help  us." 

"  Well,  sound  him :  go  at  it  cautiously,  you  know ; 
tact  —  that's  the  thing." 

Meanwhile  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  had  been  clothed  by 
Captain  Bodgers  in  blue  serge  trousers,  a  nankeen 
waistcoat,  and  an  oilskin,  the  only  other  garment 
available.  The  Jew  cut  a  strange  figure  in  this  un- 
familiar attire.  He  was  short,  fat,  thick-necked; 
the  lower  part  of  his  face  was  hidden  by  a  dense  black 
mustache  and  beard;  his  eyes  were  unequal  in  size 
and  different  in  color,  and  had  a  trick  of  roaming  all 
around  as  he  talked. 

"  This  is  very  elegant  yacht,"  he  said  to  Captain 
Bodgers  as  the  garments  were  laid  before  him.  The 
captain,  always  a  silent  man,  made  no  reply.  "  That 
is  most  marvelous  creature,  the  thing  that  flies  in  the 
air,"  the  Jew  continued ;  "  I  have  never  seen  anything 
like  it.  It  is  without  doubt  a  new  sport  —  the  Eng- 
lish love  sport.  They  spend  much  money  in  sport. 
And  where  is  the  yacht  bound  for,  good  Captain  ?  " 

"  Coin'  a  cruise,"  said  the  captain  shortly. 

"  Without  doubt.  And  perhaps  the  kind  governor 
will  permit  to  call  at  a  port  —  at  Rabat,  say;  for  I 

68 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

am  not  a  man  of  the  sea,  and  I  have  business  there." 

"  Better  ask  him." 

"  I  will  do  so.  I  will  say  also  how  I  fill  myself 
with  wonder  of  the  thing  that  flies.  I  myself  am  a 
sport !  " 

Salathiel  not  merely  expressed  his  wonderment  to 
Mr.  Greatorex,  but  displayed  a  very  active  curiosity 
as  to  the  construction  of  the  machine  and  the  choice 
of  those  waters  for  the  practice  of  the  new  sport.  Mr. 
Greatorex  gave  him  no  satisfaction,  and  was  indeed 
somewhat  curt  in  his  replies  to  the  man's  leading  ques- 
tions ;  but  Salathiel  smiled  at  each  rebuff,  thereby  con- 
firming Mr.  Greatorex's  conviction  that  he  was  a 
rascal. 

The  yacht  lay  to  for  several  hours,  getting  under 
way  again  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  very  hot;  every- 
body was  more  or  less  sleepy,  and  Tom  thought  it 
a  good  time  to  sound  the  Moor  as  to  his  willingness 
to  assist  in  the  expedition.  They  had  a  long  conver- 
sation in  the  cabin,  the  result  of  which  was  entirely 
satisfactory  to  Tom.  Abdul's  one  object  in  life  was 
to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  sheik  for  the  wrongs  his 
family  had  suffered,  and  it  was  to  be  a  thorough  ven- 
geance. He  would  not  be  satisfied  merely  with  the 
death  of  his  enemy;  that  might  have  been  achieved 
already.  But  he  was  determined  to  ruin  the  sheik's 
family,  just  as  his  own  had  been  ruined.  He  had 
hoped  to  save  enough  money  in  course  of  time  to 
gather  about  him  a  band  of  trusty  Riffians  who  would 
raid  the  oppressor's  stronghold.  The  loss  of  the 

69 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

vessel  had  swept  away  the  savings  of  five  years;  but 
he  was  resolved  to  begin  again,  and  even  if  fifty  years 
were  to  pass  before  he  was  in  a  position  to  accomplish 
his  aim,  he  would  never  relinquish  it.  The  sheik 
himself  might  die  before  then ;  in  that  case  the  weight 
of  the  avenging  hand  would  fall  on  his  descendants. 

When  Tom  reported  to  Mr.  Greatorex  the  result 
of  this  conversation  the  worthy  merchant  was 
shocked. 

"  Terrible,  terrible !  "  he  said.  "  Most  unchristian ! 
The  Moors  are  no  better  than  heathen,  Tom." 

"  Well,  we  don't  know  what  it's  like.  I  don't 
think  you  would  be  very  sweetly  disposed  toward 
any  one  who  had  served  you  as  he  has  been  served." 

"  Me !  I'd  bring  an  action  against  the  villain,  you 
may  be  sure  of  that." 

"  I  don't  suppose  they  have  actions  at  law  in  Mo- 
rocco. But  it's  quite  clear  that  he  will  be  willing  to 
help  us." 

"  True.  I'll  go  down  with  you,  and  we'll  come  to 
an  understanding  with  him." 

At  this  second  interview  Tom  explained  to  Abdul 
the  object  he  had  in  view,  and  invited  his  assistance, 
Mr.  Greatorex  promising  that  if  he  would  guide  Tom 
to  the  spot  where  the  British  diplomatist  was  held 
captive  he  should  be  rewarded  with  a  sum  equal  to 
what  he  had  lost  through  the  wreck.  Further,  if  Sir 
Mark  Ingleton  should  actually  be  got  away  safely,  the 
sum  should  be  doubled.  Abdul  jumped  at  the  offer, 
and  listened  respectfully  enough  when  Mr.  Greatorex 

70 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

went  on  to  say  that  he  hoped  the  money  would  not 
be  put  to  bad  uses. 

"  Everything  happens  by  the  will  of  Allah,"  he 
said ;  "  what  is  to  be,  must  be." 

It  was  dusk  when  the  little  party  broke  up.  No- 
body noticed  a  figure  wriggle  away  from  a  ventilating 
grating  over  the  skylight  of  the  cabin.  Salathiel  ben 
Ezra  had  watched  these  conferences  between  the 
Moor  and  the  Christians  with  much  curiosity  and  sus- 
picion, and  without  attracting  the  attention  of  any 
one  on  deck  he  had  contrived  to  steal  to  a  spot  where 
he  overheard  a  considerable  part  of  the  conversation. 

Before  he  turned  in,  Tom  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr. 
Greatorex,  which  took  an  unexpected  trend.  The 
two  were  alone  in  the  cabin.  Tom  was  in  the  high- 
est spirits,  for  the  greatest  difficulty  he  had  foreseen  — 
the  difficulty  of  finding  his  way  about  the  hill  village 
when  he  should  arrive  at  it  —  seemed  to  have  been 
removed,  now  that  he  had  secured  a  guide  in  Abdul. 

"  You  see,  it's  just  about  there,"  he  said,  putting 
his  finger  down  on  the  map  he  had  unrolled  and 
spread  on  the  table.  "  It  is  barely  a  hundred  miles 
inland,  and  without  putting  any  strain  on  the  engines 
I  can  do  it  comfortably  in  four  hours.  Of  course,  we 
must  arrive  after  dark;  so  to-morrow  night  I  think 
we'll  make  a  start  —  Timothy  and  I  and  the  Moor." 

Then  it  was  that  the  unexpected  happened.     Mr. 
Greatorex  had  been  staring  gravely  at  the  map.     Sud- 
denly he  brought  his  fist  down  on  it  with  a  bang. 
"  Look  here,  Tom,"  he  said,  "  we'll  drop  it." 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Tom  gazed  at  him  dumbly,  taken  too  much  aback 
for  words. 

"  Yes,  we'll  drop  it.  I  won't  allow  it.  Suppose 
anything  goes  wrong  with  the  machine,  where  are 
you  ?  Tell  me  that !  In  those  hills  —  wild  country, 
wild  men  —  fanatics,  you  know :  hate  all  Christians, 
no  sense  of  law  and  order,  won't  pay  their  taxes, 
don't  care  tuppence  for  their  rulers  —  oh !  I've  read 
all  about  'em,  you  know,  and  'pon  my  soul  I  don't 
know  what  I  was  thinking  of  to  come  out  here  at  all. 
We've  had  a  pleasant  run,  we've  tested  the  airship; 
it'll  do,  Tom :  but  now  we'll  go  back,  my  boy,  to  our 
land  of  peace  and  settled  government." 

"But  what  about  Sir  Mark  Ingleton?" 

"  Hang  Ingleton !  Ingleton  never  invented  any- 
thing! If  those  Moors  get  hold  of  you,  England 
loses  an  inventor  and  I  lose  my  man.  No,  no;  we 
mustn't  meddle  with  State  affairs." 

And  then  Tom  spent  an  hour  in  patiently  combat- 
ing Mr.  Greatorex's  objections,  and  in  the  end  had  for 
his  meager  reward  the  indecisive  remark : 

"  Well,  we'll  see,  Tom,  we'll  see" 

Next  morning  Mr.  Greatorex  made  no  allusion  to 
this  conversation,  but  was  observed  in  close  colloquy 
with  Captain  Bodgers.  The  result  of  this  removed 
the  weight  from  Tom's  mind.  The  yacht  coasted  up 
and  down,  the  captain  scanning  the  desolate  shore 
narrowly  through  his  glass.  At  last  he  found  what 
he  had  been  searching  for,  and  steered  the  yacht  into 
a  snug  little  bay.  The  country  was  well  wooded,  the 

73 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

trees  coming  down  almost  to  the  edge  of  the  narrow 
sandy  beach. 

"  Can't  better  this,  sir,"  said  the  captain.  "  The 
anchorage  is  none  too  good,  and  if  a  storm  comes  up 
we  may  have  to  put  out  to  sea;  but  it's  a  quiet  place, 
as  you  see;  can't  do  no  better." 

"  Very  well.  Now,  Tom,  I'm  going  to  risk  it. 
There's  the  country  to  consider,  you  see.  But  you'll 
make  me  a  promise  not  to  run  into  danger;  I  know 
you  won't  run  away  from  it !  " 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  replied  Tom.  "  We'll  start 
to-night." 

He  spent  the  hours  of  daylight  in  making  prep- 
arations. Tiie  machine  was  overhauled;  provisions 
and  arms  were  stowed  in  the  car;  and  Tom  eagerly 
awaited  the  moment  for  setting  forth  on  his  adven- 
ture. 

In  the  afternoon,  while  the  preparations  were  still 
in  progress,  a  crowd  of  natives  appeared  on  the  cliffs 
south  of  the  bay  —  wild-looking  men  clad  in  djellabs 
and  kaftans  and  yellow  shoes,  and  all  armed  with  long 
guns.  They  made  no  attempt  to  open  communication 
with  the  yacht,  but  encamped  on  the  cliff  as  though 
to  keep  an  eye  on  her  movements. 

Some  little  time  afterward,  a  small  native  craft  was 
observed  entering  the  cove.  Her  appearance  was 
hailed  with  shouts  from  the  cliff,  where  there  were 
signs  of  excitement  among  the  throng  of  spectators. 

"  Barbary  pirates,  eh,  Bodgers!"  said  Mr.  Great- 
orex,  taking  a  look  at  the  felucca  through  his  glass. 

73 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Maybe,  sir ;  they've  plied  that  trade  hereabouts 
for  hundreds  of  years." 

"  They're  making  for  the  yacht." 

"  Yes.  We'll  serve  out  arms,  sir ;  it's  as  well  to 
be  on  the  safe  side." 

"  Tom,  cover  up  the  airship.  I  don't  suppose  they'll 
know  what  it  is,  but,  as  Bodgers  says,  it's  as  well  to  be 
on  the  safe  side." 

As  the  vessel  drew  near,  it  was  seen  that  she  car- 
ried some  thirty  fierce-looking  fellows,  tall  and  finely 
made.  One  of  them  hailed  the  yacht.  Mr.  Greato- 
rex  called  Abdul  to  his  side  and  bade  him  interpret. 

"  Say  they  want  to  come  on  ship,  sir  —  see  the  cap- 
tain—  do  trade  for  guns  and  powder." 

"  What  do  you  say,  Bodgers  ?  Shall  we  let  a  few 
of  them  come  on  board  ?  " 

"  I  would,  sir.  A  few  won't  do  no  harm,  and  if 
we  can  make  friends  of  them,  so  much  the  better." 

Accordingly,  half  a  dozen  Moors  were  allowed  to 
mount  to  the  yacht's  deck.  They  appeared  to  be  much 
disappointed  when  Mr.  Greatorex  politely  explained 
through  Abdul  that  he  had  no  commercial  object;  his 
ostensible  purpose,  to  see  the  country,  scarcely  satis- 
fied them.  But  they  recovered  their  spirits  when  he 
offered  to  show  them  over  the  vessel;  and  afterwards 
when,  at  the  suggestion  of  Captain  Bodgers,  who 
knew  something  of  the  Moorish  habits,  they  were 
each  given  a  cup  of  weak  tea  and  unlimited  sugar, 
they  smacked  their  lips  and  declared  themselves  well 
pleased  with  their  reception. 

74 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

While  they  were  still  sipping  their  tea,  squatting" 
on  the  deck,  Salathiel  ben  Ezra,  who  had  hitherto  kept 
in  the  background,  came  to  Mr.  Greatorex  and  begged 
the  favor  of  a  few  minutes'  conversation. 

"  I  ask  you,  Excellency,  to  be  so  kind  as  to  let  me  go 
with  the  men,  when  they  leave  this  ship.  I  have  busi- 
ness on  land:  and  thank  you  for  your  kindness,  and 
take  leave  respectfully." 

"  Hm !     Moors  friends  of  yours,  eh  ?  " 

"  No,  no ;  the  Moors  do  not  love  the  men  of  my 
nation;  they  oppress  us;  they  call  us  dogs  and  sons 
of  swine." 

"Well,  then,  you'd  better  stay  aboard,  you  know. 
You  wouldn't  be  safe  among  them  in  a  wild  spot  like 
this.  We  can  land  you  at  Rabat  in  a  day  or  two; 
you'll  be  safer  in  a  port." 

"  Ah,  Excellency,  but  I  do  not  love  the  sea.  It 
has  wrecked  my  vessel;  I  have  much  fear  of  the 
sharks.  I  am  not  at  ease  until  I  set  foot  again  on  dry 
land." 

Mr.  Greatorex  was  perplexed.  He  had  no  reason- 
able excuse  for  detaining  the  Jew:  yet,  remembering 
that  the  man  had  seen  the  airship  at  work,  he  recog- 
nized that  it  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  impolitic 
to  allow  him  to  go  ashore  and  spread  the  news.  He 
beckoned  Tom  forward  and  told  him  of  the  Jew's  re- 
quest. Tom  instantly  grasped  the  situation. 

"  Mr.  Salathiel  forgets,"  he  said,  "  that  we  have  a 
claim  for  salvage  on  his  effects."  ("  Whether  we  have 
such  a  claim  legally,  I  don't  know,"  he  said  to  Mr. 

75 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Greatorex  afterward,  "  but  it  was  the  first  thing  that 
came  into  my  head.") 

"  That  is  most  true/'  said  the  Jew,  with  a  smile ; 
"  but  alas !  I  lost  everything  in  the  wreck ;  and  have 
only  my  clothes,  and  they  —  " 

He  shrugged  expressively. 

"  Sorry  for  you,"  said  Tom.  "  Still,  it  would  not 
be  fair  to  your  companion  Abdul  to  leave  him  to  meet 
our  claim  alone." 

"  But  he  can  come  with  me,"  said  Salathiel  eagerly. 
"  He  will  be  with  his  countrymen." 

"  You  were  not  so  anxious  for  his  company  when 
I  first  saw  you,"  replied  Tom  dryly.  "  No,  Mr.  Sal- 
athiel; it  will  be  better  for  you  both  to  come  with  us 
to  Rabat:  there  we  can  lay  this  little  matter  of  sal- 
vage before  the  authorities." 

The  Jew  heaved  a  sigh  as  of  weariness,  and  ac- 
quiesced with  a  smile.  Neither  Tom  nor  Mr.  Great- 
orex was  aware  that  while  the  Moors  were  being 
shown  over  the  vessel,  Salathiel  had  had  a  few 
moments'  conversation  with  one  of  them.  The 
only  man  on  board  who  had  observed  this  —  and  he 
had  not  given  a  second  thought  to  it  —  was  Mr. 
M'Cracken,  the  new  stoker. 

The  Moors  left  the  yacht;  the  felucca  sailed  away; 
not  shoreward,  as  Tom  had  expected,  but  out  to  sea. 
The  crowd  on  the  cliff  dispersed  and  disappeared,  and 
Tom's  final  preparations  were  made  unobserved. 

Night  fell,  and  the  little  bay,  hemmed  in  by  the 
surrounding  cliffs,  was  enveloped  in  pitchy  darkness. 

76 


SALATHIEL  BEN  EZRA 

Ten  o'clock  had  been  fixed  as  the  time  for  the  ascent 
of  the  airship,  and  up  to  the  last  moment  Tom  em- 
ployed himself  in  seeing  that  all  was  right.  Mr. 
Greatorex  was  fidgety,  asking  the  same  questions,  re- 
peating the  same  warnings,  over  and  over  again,  until 
Tom  began  to  fear  that  even  now  he  would  change 
his  mind  and  prohibit  the  expedition.  His  excite- 
ment infected  every  member  of  the  crew.  The  men 
had  eyes  only  for  the  wonderful  machine  and  for  the 
figures  that  moved  to  and  fro  about  it  in  the  light  of 
the  yacht's  electric  lamps.  Even  the  men  of  the 
watch  were  diverted  from  their  duties  when  they  per- 
ceived that  the  lashings  holding  the  airship  to  the 
deck  were  being  cast  loose.  Thus  it  was  that  no  one 
had  observed  a  small  craft  gliding  into  the  bay;  no 
one  had  noticed  that  a  rope  hung  over  the  side  of  the 
yacht  from  the  main  deck  forward;  no  one  was  on 
the  lookout  when  a  dusky  form  clambered  silently  up 
and  helped  to  lower  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  into  the  boat 
riding  alongside. 

But  it  happened  that  Timothy  Ball,  going  forward 
at  that  moment  to  fetch  his  reefer,  which  he  had  left  in 
the  fore  cabin,  noticed  what  was  afoot  just  as  he 
reached  the  companionway.  With  a  shout  he  dashed 
forward  to  lay  hands  on  the  intruder.  But,  quick  as 
thought,  the  Moor  whipped  out  a  knife  and  struck  at 
Timothy;  and  when  the  sailors  came  running  to  the 
spot  they  found  the  poor  fellow  groaning  on  the  deck, 
and  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  felucca  speeding  away  into 
the  gloom. 

77 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

For  the  moment  the  airship  was  forgotten.  The 
whole  ship's  company  flocked  to  the  fore-deck  'and 
formed  a  group  around  the  prostrate  form  of  Timothy 
Ball.  Tom  was  already  on  his  knees  beside  the  man, 
putting  into  practice  the  principles  of  first  aid,  and 
receiving  unexpected  assistance  from  M'Cracken,  who 
showed  remarkable  adeptness. 

"How  did  it  happen?"  cried  Mr.  Greatorex,  sup- 
posing that  his  man's  plight  was  due  to  some  accident. 

"  The  Jew !  "  said  Timothy  faintly. 

"  The  villain !     Bring  him  here,  some  one." 

"  He  ain't  here,  sir ;  went  over  the  side.  It  wasn't 
him  that  stabbed  me;  it  was  a  Moor  that  came  up  out 
of  a  boat  and  helped  the  Jew  to  get  away.  Never 
mind  me,  sir ;  I'm  all  right." 

Mr.  Greatorex  fumed. 

"  This  puts  a  stop  to  it,  Tom.  It's  a  villainous 
business,  and  we'll  go  straight  back  home." 

Tom  made  no  reply.  He  was  completing  the  ad- 
justment of  a  tourniquet. 

"  And  we've  no  doctor  on  board !  "  Mr.  Greatorex 
went  on.  "  We'll  run  back  to  Gibraltar  and  get  as- 

78 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

sistance.     Can't  let  the  poor  fellow  bleed  to  death, 
you  know." 

"  He'll  no  bleed  to  death,"  said  M'Cracken  huskily. 
"  It's  just  a  wee  flesh  wound.  He'll  be  a'  richt  in  a 
twa-three  days." 

"  Glad  to  hear  it." 

- "  The  question  is,  whom  shall  I  take  with  me 
now  ?  "  said  Tom,  rising  to  his  feet  and  ignoring  Mr. 
Greatorex's  expressed  determination  to  go  home. 
"  The  sooner  I'm  off  the  better,  for  that  rascally  Jew 
will  tell  all  he  knows  about  the  airship,  and  the  Moors 
will  be  on  their  guard." 

"  But  we're  going  home,  Tom." 

"  Surely  you  won't  let  our  enterprise  be  ruined  by 
a  rogue ! "  replied  Tom.  "  There's  all  the  more 
reason  for  going  on  with  it." 

"  Gad,  you're  right ! "  cried  Mr.  Greatorex,  veer- 
ing round  again.  "  We'll  do  it  in  the  teeth  of  them. 
But  you'll  want  some  one  with  you  in  place  of  Tim. 
If  I  were  twenty  years  younger  I'd  go  myself.  You 
want  a  man  who  knows  something  about  engines. 
Can't  spare  you,  Mumford,  I'm  afraid." 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  the  engineer,  "  and  I'm  rather 
heavy.  But  there's  young  M'Cracken;  he's  a  light 
weight;  an  uncommonly  handy  fellow  too,  and,  judg- 
ing from  some  remarks  of  his  when  we've  been  watch- 
ing the  airship,  he  knows  something  about  'em; 
seems  to  have  read  a  good  deal.  I  can  do  without 
him  for  a  day  or  two,  especially  if  we  lie  at  anchor 
here." 

79 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Ah !  Yes !  Where  is  he  ?  He  was  here  a  few 
seconds  ago." 

M'Cracken  was  haled  from  below.  He  appeared 
even  more  grimy  than  ever. 

"  Look  here,  M'Cracken,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex. 
"  Mr.  Dorrell  wants  some  one  to  help  him,  and  Mr. 
Mumford  suggests  you ;  speaks  well  of  you,  you  know. 
You've  never  been  on  an  airship,  of  course;  but  all 
you've  to  do  is  to  keep  calm,  and  do  exactly  as  you 
are  told.  You're  not  afraid  —  no  nerves,  eh  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  You're  very  hoarse  still.  It  will  do  you  good, 
you  know,  to  be  away  from  that  furnace  for  a  day  or 
two.  Well,  you'd  better  get  a  wash." 

"  No  time  for  that,"  said  Tom  quickly.  "  It's 
past  ten  o'clock,  and  we  ought  to  have  started  long 
ago." 

"  Very  well.  You're  not  going  visiting,  to  be  sure. 
Well,  M'Cracken,  go  and  put  on  your  reefer;  the 
night's  cold,  aoid  will  be  colder." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  returned  M'Cracken,  and  dived 
with  alacrity  below.  He  was  back  in  less  than  a 
minute.  Then  Tom  entered  the  car  of  the  airship, 
followed  by  Abdul  and  the  stoker.  With  one  hand 
on  the  steering  wheel  and  the  other  on  the  lever  con- 
trolling the  engines,  he  called  to  the  men  to  cast  loose 
the  ropes  securing  the  car  to  the  deck.  Then  he 
started  the  ascensional  screw,  and  with  a  whirl  like 
that  of  a  gigantic  humming-top  the  airship  rose  slowly 
from  the  yacht's  deck. 

80 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

"Good-by,  Tom,"  shouted  Mr.  Greatorex.  "Be 
careful,  my  boy;  run  no  risks." 

"Good-by!     Good-by!" 

"  This  is  ripping,"  said  the  stoker,  as  the  machine 
rose  higher  and  higher  into  the  air. 

Tom  started  so  violently  that  he  unconsciously 
jerked  back  the  lever  and  stopped  the  motion  of  the 
machine. 

"  Pull  that  lever,  quick !  "  he  called. 

"  Done  it  already,"  said  the  stoker,  with  his  hand 
on  the  lever  that  adjusted  the  planes.  "  Lucky  I've 
been  up  before,  Dorrell." 

"  Good  heavens,  you're  —  yes,  you're  Oliphant. 
Whew!  won't  the  old  man  be  in  a  tantrum.  How  in 
the  world  did  you  disguise  yourself  ?  " 

"  Sammy  Byles'  clothes,  a  little  lampblack,  and  my 
native  brogue  do  make  a  difference,  don't  they!  I'm 
afraid  Mr.  Greatorex  will  be  a  trifle  fizzy;  but  that 
won't  matter,  afterward." 

"  I'm  not  sure  I  oughtn't  to  go  back  and  drop  you." 

"  Nonsense.  I'm  in  for  it  now,  and  when  you  come 
to  think  of  it  you  couldn't  have  a  better  man.  Bar 
Timothy,  nobody  knows  so  much  about  the  machine 
as  I  do;  and  I  warrant  I'm  a  better  hand  in  a  scrim- 
mage, whether  with  fists  or  revolvers.  I've  brought 
my  Colt." 

It  was  some  time  before  Tom  recovered  from  his 
surprise;  but  for  the  moment  his  attention  was  oc- 
cupied with  the  airship.  At  last  he  said: 

"  Well,  Oliphant,  I'm  glad  enough  to  have  you 

Si 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

with  me.  I  hope  we  shall  come  through  all  right." 
While  speaking,  he  had  stopped  the  ascensional 
screws  and  set  the  horizontal  going.  A  small  aneroid 
hung  just  above  his  head,  lit  by  a  carefully  screened 
electric  lamp.  The  reading  indicated  that  the  airship 
had  risen  to  a  height  of  five  hundred  meters.  Main- 
taining the  ascent  solely  by  the  inclination  of  the 
planes,  Tom  brought  the  whole  force  of  the  engines 
to  bear  on  the  horizontal  screws,  and  the  machine 
glided  onward  at  a  speed  of  some  twenty  miles  an 
hour,  gradually  rising  as  she  went.  Then,  at  the 
altitude  of  a  thousand  meters,  when  Tom  judged  that 
he  was  high  enough  to  clear  the  tops  of  the  hills  that 
fringed  the  coast,  Oliphant  reduced  the  angle  of  the 
planes  so  that  it  was  just  sufficient  to  maintain  a  con- 
stant height  at  the  increased  speed  of  twenty-five 
miles. 

"By  Jove,  this  'is  ripping!"  cried  Oliphant  again. 
It  was  a  bright  starlit  night,  without  a  breath  of 
wind.  At  this  altitude  the  air  was  crisp  and  keen, 
producing  a  sense  of  exhilaration  in  the  occupants  of 
the  car.  Even  Abdul,  who  had  quaked  inwardly  and 
clutched  the  rail  when  the  machine  rose  to  such  a 
giddy  height,  had  now  lost  his  tremors,  and  looked 
around  him  with  wonderment  and  delight.  The  ship 
was  soaring  over  the  land,  which  lay  outstretched  like 
a  vast  black  floor  three-quarters  of  a  mile  beneath. 
Behind,  the  lights  of  the  yacht  could  be  faintly  dis- 
tinguished; before,  there  was  not  a  glimmer  over  the 
whole  country.  The  airship  crossed  a  peak  or  two, 

82 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

then  sailed  over  a  rolling  plain;  by  and  by  more  hills 
loomed  black  in  front.  The  aneroid,  an  extremely  del- 
icate instrument,  now  indicated  that  the  machine  was 
slowly  sinking.  Oliphant  again  adjusted  the  planes; 
the  airship  passed  clear  of  the  hills,  and  Tom  steered 
as  directly  as  he  could  guess  for  the  spot  he  had 
marked  on  his  map. 

When  the  voyage  had  lasted  for  about  an  hour  the 
rising  moon  threw  more  light  on  the  scene,  lending 
a  weird  beauty  to  the  variegated  landscape  —  bare 
rugged  hills  alternating  with  wooded  slopes  and  dark 
valleys.  But  it  was  impossible,  at  the  height  at  which 
they  were  sailing,  to  distinguish  any  landmarks; 
Abdul  knew  the  country  thoroughly,  but  was  quite  at 
a  loss  in  this  unfamiliar  situation.  He  had  told  Tom 
that  the  fastness  where  the  diplomatist  was  probably 
held  captive  stood  on  the  top  of  an  extremely  steep 
hill,  and  explained  that  the  most  convenient  spot  from 
which  to  approach  it  was  a  small  tableland  about  a 
sixth  of  a  day's  journey  from  it.  This  was  Tom's 
objective;  but  as  it  was  impossible  to  make  sure  of 
reaching  it  unless  Abdul  could  obtain  some  guidance 
from  prominent  natural  features,  Tom  more  than 
once  allowed  the  airship  to  sink  almost  to  the  ground, 
so  that  the  Moor  might  scan  the  country. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  about  four  hours  after 
they  had  left  the  yacht,  Abdul  said  that  he  recognized 
a  hill  stream  whose  source  was  within  a  short  distance 
of  the  sheik's  stronghold.  From  the  directions  he 
was  now  able  to  give,  Tom  managed  to  steer  fairly 

83 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

straight  for  the  tableland,  and  after  once  more  de- 
scending so  that  Abdul  might  assure  himself  that  he 
had  not  been  mistaken,  he  finally  brought  the  airship 
to  rest  at  the  desired  spot.  It  was  past  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning;  the  sky  was  already  lightening  with 
what  Abdul  called  subhi  kdzib  —  the  false  dawn  which 
often  in  these  latitudes  illumines  the  sky  an  hour  or 
so  before  the  real  dawn.  The  three  adventurers  were 
all  very  tired,  and  on  Abdul's  explaining  that  the  table- 
land was  but  rarely  visited,  and  that  so  far  as  he  knew 
there  were  no  wild  beasts  in  the  neighborhood,  Tom 
thought  that  they  might  all  safely  take  a  few  hours' 
sleep  before  considering  the  next  move.  The  table- 
land was  not  entirely  flat;  it  had  many  depressions, 
and  jagged  rocks  stood  up  on  all  sides  around  the 
comparatively  clear  space  on  which  the  airship  rested. 
Only  one  hill,  and  that  apparently  four  or  five  miles 
distant,  stood  higher,  and  even  the  hawk-like  vision  of 
the  mountaineers  was  not  likely  to  discover  the  air- 
ship from  so  remote  a  spot. 

The  real  dawn  —  subhi  sadik  —  was  some  little 
while  past  when  the  Moor  awoke,  first  of  the  three. 
He  had  just  completed  his  morning  devotions  and  ab- 
lutions at  a  little  spring  when  the  others  roused  them- 
selves. Among  the  contents  of  the  car  were  a  spirit 
lamp,  a  tin  of  condensed  milk,  and  materials  for 
making  tea;  and  while  they  ate  their  breakfast  Tom 
discussed  with  Oliphant  the  program  for  the  day. 

'  The  first  thing  is  to  find  out  exactly  where  Ingle- 
ton  is   imprisoned,"   said   Tom,   "and   what  chance 

84 


there  is  of  getting  into  communication  with  him. 
That's  a  job  for  Abdul ;  obviously  we  can't  help  him ; 
we  can't  do  better  than  lie  snug  here  while  he  goes 
and  gets  what  information  he  can." 

"  A  pretty  dangerous  job  for  him  if  he's  caught, 
isn't  it?" 

"  Well,  it's  a  good  many  years  since  he  left  these 
parts,  and  he  must  have  altered.  I  doubt  whether 
he'll  be  recognized.  Luckily  the  hills  are  covered 
with  mist,  too;  if  he  starts  soon  he'll  be  able  to  get  a 
good  way  before  he's  likely  to  run  across  any  of  his 
countrymen." 

"Or  lose  himself?" 

"No,  master,"  said  Abdul,  "I  don't  not  lose  my- 
self. I  go  all  right." 

"  The  sooner  the  better,  then,"  said  Tom.  "  We'll 
wait  for  you  here." 

The  Moor,  who  had  resumed  his  native  dress,  at 
once  girt  his  djellab  about  him  and  prepared  to  de- 
scend the  hillside.  Tom  and  Oliphant  watched  him 
breathlessly  until  the  mist  hid  him  from  view.  He 
went  over  the  brow  of  the  hill  and  began  to  clamber 
down  its  steep  side  with  the  agility  and  sure-footed- 
ness  of  a  mountain  goat.  When  he  was  out  of  sight 
the  others  returned  to  their  half-finished  breakfast, 
ready  to  endure  with  what  patience  they  might  the 
long  waiting  until  the  Moor  should  have  completed 
his  errand. 

"  What  if  he  doesn't  come  back?"  said  Oliphant. 

"  We  shall  have  to  risk  it  ourselves.     I'm  certainly 

8s 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

not  going1  back  without  making  the  attempt,  now  that 
we  have  come  so  far.  It's  pretty  cold  up  here ;  I  shall 
be  glad  when  the  sun  sucks  up  this  mist." 

.When  the  mist  at  last  cleared  away,  a  magnificent 
view  spread  out  before  the  two  watchers  on  the  hill- 
top. They  themselves  were  perched  on  the  top  of  a 
practically  bare  rock,  but  a  hundred  feet  below  them 
the  hillside  was  covered  with  forest,  broken,  however, 
with  huge  patches  of  rocky  ground,  on  which 
apparently  not  even  the  hardiest  tree  could  find  a 
lodgment.  For  miles  around,  the  country  showed  a 
succession  of  tree-clad  hills,  with  here  and  there  a 
waterfall,  and  here  and  there  a  bare  summit,  not,  how- 
ever, truncated  like  the  hill  on  which  they  had  landed. 
Far  away  to  the  northwest  they  could  descry,  through 
their  field-glasses,  a  considerable  walled  village 
perched  on  the  shoulder  of  a  hill,  with  one  or  two  large 
buildings,  one  presumably  a  mosque,  and  a  second 
evidently  the  stronghold  of  the  sheik.  This  no  doubt 
was  the  place  in  which  they  were  interested.  It  lay 
in  the  direction  generally  indicated  by  the  Moor,  al- 
though when  he  started  it  was  hidden  by  the  mists. 

The  hours  dragged  all  too  slowly  by.  They  talked 
over  the  situation,  occasionally  getting  up  to  stretch 
their  limbs,  but  not  venturing  to  move  about  much  lest 
they  should  be  seen  by  any  chance  shepherd  or  hunter. 
On  the  plain  below  they  caught  sight  of  animals 
moving,  and  longed  to  take  a  shot  at  them  —  now  a 
gazelle,  now  a  wild  hog.  But  to  fire  a  shot  was  out 
of  the  question,  and  they  had  to  content  themselves 

86 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

with    exchanging    reminiscences    of    sport   at    home. 

Darkness  fell  again.  Abdul  had  not  returned. 
Each  spent  a  restless  night,  and  rose  with  the  dawn, 
eagerly  scanning  the  country,  as  soon  as  the  mist  was 
dispersed,  for  a  sign  of  their  emissary,  but  in  vain. 

"  I  hope  he  hasn't  been  collared,"  said  Tom. 

"  Or  turned  traitor !  " 

"  He  wouldn't  do  that,  I'm  sure.  I  like  the  fel- 
low. Of  course  you  do  read  a  lot  about  oriental 
duplicity,  but  I  don't  believe  Abdul  is  a  rogue.  Any- 
way, we  should  have  time  to  get  away  in  the  airship 
before  any  one  could  molest  us  here,  and  he  knows 
that.  For  the  life  of  me  I  don't  know  what  we  can 
do  if  he  has  been  collared.  We  can't  do  a  thing  until 
we  know  where  Ingleton  is;  we  certainly  can't  go 
inquiring  ourselves.  All  we  can  do  is  to  go  back  to 
the  yacht  and  try  and  pick  up  some  English-speaking 
native  who  can  tell  us  what  we  want  to  know,  and 
that  means  loss  of  time." 

"  And  more  than  that ;  it  would  mean  that  I'd  have 
to  turn  into  M'Cracken  again,  and  I  don't  believe  I 
could  keep  up  the  disguise  any  longer.  I  say,  what's 
that  moving  down  there  ?  " 

They  seized  their  field-glasses  and  turned  them 
toward  a  patch  moving  along  the  outskirts  of  a  wood 
some  miles  away. 

"  Moors,  by  Jove !  "  exclaimed  Oliphant.  "  And 
mounted.  And  coming  this  way.  It  looks  as  though 
Abdul  had  betrayed  us,  after  all." 

"  Don't  be  in  a  hurry.  They're  making  no  at- 

87 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

tempt  to  mask  their  approach.  I  don't  believe  they're 
coming  here  at  all.  No;  see,  they  are  wheeling  off 
to  the  right,  in  the  direction  of  the  hill  village  yonder. 
.We  needn't  worry  ourselves.  But  I'm  getting  sick 
of  this,  and  it'll  be  serious  soon.  I  only  brought  three 
days'  grub  in  the  car,  and  I'm  afraid  we  ate  more 
than  we  ought  yesterday.  That's  the  worst  of  having 
nothing  to  do." 

"  It's  so  plaguy  hot,  too,  when  the  sun's  up.  For 
two  pins  I'd  go  down  and  have  a  shot  at  something 
in  the  woods.  No  doubt  it's  cooler  down  there,  and 
there's  no  fun  in  lying  about  up  here  to  frizzle." 

"  There'd  certainly  be  no  fun  in  being  pitched  into 
a  Moorish  dungeon.  By  all  accounts  they're  rather 
horrible.  I  think  I'd  rather  frizzle  here  than  stew 
there.  In  any  case,  even  supposing  the  Moors  didn't 
find  out  who  was  firing,  the  shots  would  put  them  on 
their  guard  and  perhaps  spoil  our  game.  I  say,  Oli- 
phant,  reel  off  some  of  your  stories." 

But  even  Oliphant's  stories  in  the  Doric  palled,  and 
by  and  by  Tom  got  up  and  said  that  he  was  going  for  a 
stroll.  He  was  away  for  nearly  an  hour,  and  Oli- 
phant  began  to  feel  uneasy  at  his  prolonged  absence. 
Oliphant  dared  not  call,  for  fear  of  being  overheard  by 
an  enemy;  nor  did  he  care  to  explore.  But  he  was 
making  up  his  mind  to  follow  Tom  down  the  steep 
path  when  the  wanderer  at  last  returned. 

"  Rather  interesting  spot,  this,"  he  said.  "  Round 
the  corner  below  there  I  came  upon  some  caves." 

88 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

"  I  wondered  what  had  become  of  you.  Did  you 
get  lost?" 

"  No.  The  odd  thing  is  that  these  caves  are  up 
about  twenty  feet  from  a  ridge  of  rock,  and  can't  be 
got  at  without  a  ladder.  I  tried  to  mount,  but  the 
wall  is  almost  flat." 

"  I'll  go  and  have  a  look".     How  do  you  get  there?  " 

"  Down  the  hill  a  little  way,  turn  to  the  right,  go 
along  the  ridge,  and  look  up.  The  caves  are  about 
half-way  between  the  ridge  and  the  top  of  the  hill." 

Oliphant  followed  these  directions,  and  by  and  by 
returned,  with  his  trousers  cut  in  several  places. 

"  I  tried  to  climb  up,"  he  explained,  "  but  couldn't 
manage  it.  I  think  it  could  be  done,  though,  with 
practice." 

"  Which  we  haven't  time  for." 

The  discovery  of  the  caves  had  occupied  some  time, 
and  furnished  material  for  speculation  and  talk  that 
helped  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  waiting.  But  their 
patience  had  well-nigh  given  out  when  night  once 
more  descended  and  still  Abdul  had  not  returned. 
The  two  were  eating  their  supper  in  moody  silence 
when  they  heard  suddenly  the  sound  of  a  stone  rat- 
tling down  the  hillside.  They  seized  their  revolvers 
and  sprang  up,  waiting  for  another  sound.  Clearly 
some  one,  man  or  animal,  was  climbing  the  hill.  All 
was  again  silent;  then,  from  some  point  beyond  them, 
came  the  sound  of  a  high-pitched  voice. 

"It's  Abdul.  Thank  goodness!"  cried  Oliphant 

89 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

with  a  laugh.  "  Come  on,  you  laggard,  and  give  an 
account  of  yourself." 

"  You  have  been  gone  a  long  time,  Abdul,"  said 
Tom,  as  that  young  Moor  came  through  the  dark- 
ness. 

"  True,  master ;  but  it  is  with  us  a  saying,  '  Every 
delay  is  good/  ' 

"  Well,  come  and  have  something  to  eat.  You're 
pretty  tired  and  hungry,  no  doubt.  Then  you  can 
tell  us  what  you  have  done." 

But  Abdul  declined  the  food  offered  him,  and  pro- 
ducing a  wallet  from  beneath  his  djellab,  displayed  a 
heap  of  dates.  He  related  that  he  had  made  his  way 
safely  into  the  village,  but  as  he  went  through  the 
streets  toward  the  house  of  Hamet  Ali  —  a  friend  on 
whose  discretion  he  could  rely  —  he  fancied  from  the 
manner  of  an  old  water-carrier  that  the  man  had  rec- 
ognized him.  He  contrived  to  slip  away  among  a 
company  of  muleteers  that  happened  to  be  passing, 
and  reached  his  friend's  house  unmolested ;  but  shortly 
afterward  he  learned  from  this  friend  that  the  water- 
carrier  had  mentioned  his  suspicions,  and  that  in- 
quiries were  being  diligently  made  for  him  through 
the  village.  Every  exit  was  watched;  and  his  friend 
was  in  some  anxiety  lest  an  emissary  of  the  sheik 
should  come  and  search  the  house.  Hamet,  however, 
was  an  old  enemy  of  the  sheik,  though,  with  true 
oriental  dissimulation,  he  had  hitherto  managed  to 
hide  the  fact.  He  agreed  to  give  Abdul  shelter  so 
long  as  it  was  safe  to  do  so,  but  impressed  upon 

90 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

him  that  he  must  not  venture  to  show  himself  out 
of  doors. 

He  then  inquired  what  had  brought  Abdul  to  the 
village,  and  the  boy  thought  it  advisable  to  confide 
in  him,  taking  care  to  heighten  the  mystery  of  the 
wonderful  ship  that  sailed  through  the  air,  and  to 
promise,  on  the  Englishman's  behalf,  liberal  bakshish 
to  Hamet  if  he  lent  all  possible  assistance  to  the  enter- 
prise. He  wished  his  friend  to  send  a  messenger  to 
Tom,  but  this  Hamet  refused  to  do,  for  the  results  to 
himself,  if  the  messenger  were  followed  and  caught, 
might  be  disastrous. 

On  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  when  Hamet 
returned  from  his  usual  visit  to  the  sok,  he  reported 
that  a  camel-driver  had  arrived,  bearing  a  message 
from  a  Jew  of  Rabat,  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  by  name, 
who  proposed  to  come  in  person  to  see  the  sheik, 
and  had  sent  a  swift  rider  in  advance  to  request  a 
safe-conduct.  The  Jews  are  tolerated,  scorned,  made 
to  do  menial  work,  in  the  ports;  in  remote  districts 
of  Morocco  they  carry  their  lives  in  their  hands. 
But  the  message  conveyed  to  the  sheik  had  been  such, 
that  Salathiel's  request  was  granted,  and  a  dozen 
men  had  been  sent  on  horseback  toward  the  coast 
as  an  escort.  Hearing  this,  Abdul  decided  that  at 
all  costs  he  must  return  to  his  employer.  Under 
cover  of  the  night  he  had  contrived  to  slip  away 
from  the  village,  and  had  come  back  by  a  circui- 
tous route  so  as  to  make  sure  of  not  being  inter- 
cepted. 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  But  what  of  the  prisoner  ?  "  asked  Tom.  "  Did 
you  learn  anything  of  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,  master.     He  is  in  the  sheik's  kasbah." 

"What  iskasbah?" 

"  Strong  place,  master ;  thick  walls ;  a  very  bad 
prison." 

"  We  are  on  the  right  track,  Oliphant,"  said  Tom. 

"  It  looks  bad,  though.  Ingleton  will  be  pretty 
well  guarded,  you  may  be  sure;  and  I  don't  for  the 
life  of  me  see  how  we  can  break  into  a  strong  place 
and  get  him  out." 

"Unless  we  bribe  his  jailers.  Could  we  get  him 
away  with  bakshish,  Abdul  ?  " 

"  No,  master.  The  sheik  would  cut  hands  and  feet 
off,  put  eyes  out,  and  more." 

"  Evidently  we've  got  our  work  cut  out,  Oliphant. 
And  you  may  depend  upon  it,  our  friend  Salathiel 
has  somehow  found  out  our  errand  and  is  coming  to 
warn  the  sheik.  I  remember  now  that  I  saw  him 
talking  to  one  of  the  Moors  who  came  aboard  the 
yacht." 

"  That  explains  it." 

"  How  long  will  it  take  him  to  get  here,  Abdul  ?  " 

"  Two,  three  days,  master." 

"  We  must  be  beforehand  with  him,  then.  Are 
you  prepared  for  short  rations,  Oliphant?  Our  grub 
won't  last  more  than  another  day." 

"  Plenty  dates  and  figs  in  woods,  master,"  said 
Abdul. 

"  We  shan't  starve,  then.     Let's  have  a  good  sleep, 

93 


THE  HILLS  OF  ZEMMUR 

Oliphant.     We  shall  want  all  our  strength  for  this 
job." 

"  We   shall,   indeed.     Poor   old   pater !     Wouldn't 
he  have  the  blues  if  he  knew  where  I  am !  " 


93 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN   AFROO 

The  approaching"  advent  of  the  Jew  had  introduced 
a  new  element  of  danger  into  the  enterprise.  If  he 
should  reach  the  village  before  Ingleton  was  released, 
clearly  the  game  was  up.  Instead  of  getting  a  good 
sleep,  Tom  lay  awake,  talking  over  the  situation  with 
Oliphant.  He  got  Abdul  to  describe  the  kasbah,  but 
the  description  was  so  vague  —  the  Moor  when  he 
lived  in  the  village  having  taken  the  stronghold  for 
granted  —  that  he  felt  incapable  of  making  any  plans 
without  seeing  the  place  for  himself.  When  he  made 
this  suggestion  Oliphant  scouted  it. 

"  For  one  thing,"  he  said,  "  it's  too  dangerous;  for 
another,  where  do  I  come  in  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  should  have  to  take  Abdul  —  or  rather 
he  would  have  to  take  me;  and  however  dangerous 
it  would  be  for  two,  it  would  be  still  more  dangerous 
for  three.  If  you'll  stay  and  keep  an  eye  on  the  air- 
ship, I'll  take  advantage  of  the  moonlight  and  go  and 
have  a  look  round.  Your  turn  will  come,  you  may  be 
sure  of  that.  If  I  don't  come  back,  you  know 
how  to  set  the  machine  going.  Scoot  back  to  the 
yacht,  and  get  Mr.  Greatorex  to  make  straight  for 
Tangier." 

94 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

"  There'll  be  a  pretty  row  about  this  before  we've 
done  with  it!  All  right!  —  if  you  will  go.  But  I 
say,  they'll  spot  you  for  a  foreigner  if  any  one  catches 
sight  of  you  —  in  those  clothes." 

"  Yes ;  I  forgot  that.  I  wish  I'd  provided  myself 
with  a  rig-out  in  the  Moorish  style." 

Here  Abdul  produced  from  the  folds  of  his  djellab 
a  small  bundle,  which,  being  unrolled,  proved  to  be 
a  long  gray  garment  with  a  pair  of  yellow  shoes 
wrapped  in  it. 

"You're  a  brick,  Abdul!"  cried  Tom.  "You 
guessed  I'd  want  something  of  this  sort,  eh?" 

"  Yes,  master.     I  could  get  only  one." 

"  So  you're  out  of  it  for  the  present,  anyhow,  Oli- 
phant.  Well,  good-by.  If  we're  lucky  we'll  be  back 
by  the  morning;  if  not  —  you  know  what  to  do." 

Five  minutes  later  Tom,  swathed  in  the  djellab, 
disappeared  over  the  brow  of  the  hill  with  Abdul.  He 
carried  his  revolver;  the  Moor  had  only  a  knife.  In 
his  unfamiliar  garment  Tom  found  it  by  no  means 
easy  to  make  the  descent  down  the  rough  precipitous 
path;  but  Abdul  went  first,  picking  the  easiest  course, 
and  both  arrived  safely  at  the  bottom. 

Then  they  began  their  march  to  the  village.  It 
was  a  toilsome  journey,  and  Tom  found  the  Moorish 
slippers  a  very  inconvenient  footgear.  A  long  tramp, 
and  another  steep  climb,  brought  them  to  the  wall  of 
the  village,  which  was  built  on  the  slope  of  the  hill. 
The  gates  had  been  shut  at  sunset,  Abdul  explained: 
that  was  the  Moorish  fashion.  Tom  perceived  that 

95 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

the  wall  was  utterly  dilapidated:  in  that  respect  Ain 
Afroo  was  typically  Moorish.  In  many  parts  the 
parapet  had  fallen  to  pieces,  and,  for  any  protection 
it  afforded,  the  wall  might  as  well  not  have  been  there. 
It  gave  easy  foothold  to  a  climber,  and  Tom  indulged 
a  hope  that  the  kasbah  might  prove  to  be  in  equally 
bad  preservation. 

From  what  Abdul  had  told  him,  Tom  guessed  that 
the  stronghold  lay  at  the  upper  extremity  of  the  vil- 
lage, about  eighty  or  ninety  yards  from  the  wall.  The 
Moor's  knowledge  of  the  place  enabled  him  to  lead 
Tom  to  a  spot  where  it  would  clearly  be  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  climb  the  battlements.  Secure  in  their  remote- 
ness, and  in  the  fact  that  no  hostile  force  could  come 
within  many  miles  of  the  village  without  being  in- 
stantly announced,  the  inhabitants  kept  only  a  perfunc- 
tory watch.  A  few  men,  Abdul  said,  were  regularly 
on  guard  at  the  northeast  and  southwest  corners;  but 
no  attempt  was  made  to  watch  the  walls  in  general. 
Knowing  the  state  of  the  defenses,  this  fact  gave  Tom 
some  amusement.  With  walls  so  ruinous  the  gates 
were,  the  last  places  at  which  unauthorized  ingress 
or  egress  would  be  made.  The  whole  place  was  still 
sleeping,  and  would  sleep  until  the  muezzin  from  the 
mosque  gave  the  call  to  prayer.  Abdul  declared  it 
was  quite  safe  to  enter  the  village,  so  far  as  its  hu- 
man inhabitants  were  concerned,  though  there  was  a 
risk  that  some  pariah  dog  might  be  wakeful.  Taking 
his  courage  in  both  hands,  Tom  climbed  up  the  wall 
after  Abdul,  and  descended  on  the  other  side;  then, 

96 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

keeping  in  the  black  shadows  cast  by  the  moon,  the 
two  made  their  way  through  round  archways  and 
narrow  alleys  to  the  outer  wall  of  the  kasbah. 

The  village  was  very  silent.  It  might  almost  have 
been  an  abode  of  the  dead.  Only  the  screech  of 
night-birds  beyond  the  walls  broke  the  stillness.  Tom 
held  his  breath  —  and  his  nose,  for  sanitary  authori- 
ties are  unknown  in  Morocco,  and  heaps  of  refuse 
here  and  there  spoke  forcibly  in  the  night  air.  The 
two  intruders  crept  stealthily  round  the  walls  of  the 
kasbah,  against  which  small  shops  and  outbuildings 
that  Abdul  called  inzella  were  built,  except  before 
the  principal  entrance  —  a  large  gateway  through 
which  two  or  three  men  could  ride  abreast.  In  front 
of  this  gateway  was  a  wide,  open  square,  with  low 
shops  under  a  colonnade  on  the  other  side. 

The  gateway  was  shut.  It  had  massive  iron  doors. 
Stealing  to  the  farther  side  of  it,  Abdul  touched  Tom's 
arm,  and  pointed  to  a  small  dark  window,  unglazed, 
scarcely  more  than  a  slit  in  the  wall,  some  twenty-five 
feet  above  their  heads,  and  a  yard  or  two  back  from 
the  parapet,  which,  as  the  Moor  had  already  ex- 
plained, extended  right  round  the  kasbah,  inclosing 
a  kind  of  terrace.  It  was  the  window  of  the  guest- 
chamber,  and  there,  Abdul  had  suggested,  the  cap- 
tured envoy  was  confined. 

The  entrance  to  the  guest-chamber  would  be  from 
the  terrace  within  the  parapet.  The  floor  above  was 
occupied  by  the  sheik  and  his  family;  the  floor  below 
kwas  devoted  to  the  servants  and  the  guard.  Even  as 

97 


KING  OF  THE  AIR' 

Tom  looked,  a  figure  passed  slowly  along  the  terrace, 
and  the  moonlight  glinted  on  a  steel  musket  barrel. 
It  was  clear  that  the  guest-chamber  was  carefully 
guarded  —  a  proof,  it  seemed,  that  Abdul's  sugges- 
tion was  correct.  Drawing  Tom  out  of  earshot,  Ab- 
dul said  that  special  orders  must  have  been  given,  or 
the  sentry  would  certainly  not  tramp  up  and  down  at 
this  hour  of  nigHt.  Tom  learned  afterwards  that  the 
Moorish  soldier's  idea  of  sentry-go  is  a  long  nap  in 
the  nearest  doorway. 

"  Is  there  no  entrance  to  the  guest-chamber  from 
within?"  asked  Tom. 

Abdul  confessed  that  he  did  not  know.  He  had 
never  set  foot  within  the  walls.  But  he  had  once 
taken  refuge  for  the  night,  on  one  of  his  journeys 
through  the  country,  in  a  ruined  kasbah  of  somewhat 
similar  appearance,  and  there  a  door  led  from  the 
guest-chamber  into  a  small  vestibule,  which  gave  ac- 
cess to  the  upper  floor  and  the  roof  above. 

Flitting  silently  across  the  square,  Tom  and  the 
Moor  took  post  under  the  shadow  of  the  colonnade 
on  the  farther  side,  which  ran  at  right  angles  to  the 
wall  of  the  kasbah.  .Within  it  was  a  row  of  shops, 
now  shut  and  barred.  There,  leaning  against  one  of 
the  stout  columns,  within  the  black  darkness  of  the 
Moorish  arch,  Tom  scanned  the  kasbah,  looming  white 
in  the  moonlight,  and  meditated. 

To  get  into  communication  with  the  prisoner  seemed 
absolutely  hopeless.  No  one  could  force  an  entrance 
into  the  sheik's  strong  place.  Was  it  possible  to  gain 

98 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

the  assistance  of  some  one  within  ?  Might  not  Hamet 
Ali,  Abdul's  friend,  act  as  intermediary  between  Tom 
and  some  servant  of  the  sheik's?  The  cynical  say- 
ing, "  Every  man  has  his  price,"  was  literal  truth  in 
Morocco:  such  was  the  impression  Tom  had  gained 
from  his  reading.  But  he  knew  enough  of  oriental 
ways  to  be  sure  that  the  fixing  of  the  price  would  be 
a  long  and  tedious  affair.  If  the  Moor  were  asked 
to  name  it,  he  would  suggest  a  sum  far  in  excess  of 
what  he  would  ultimately  accept;  while  however  large 
a  sum  were  offered,  it  would  prove  only  the  starting 
place  for  long  haggling.  Indeed,  the  larger  the  bribe, 
the  more  likely  it  would  be  to  excite  the  cupidity  of 
the  agent,  and  to  encourage  him  to  stand  out  for  yet 
higher  terms. 

In  spite  of  the  difficulties,  Tom  would  have  been 
inclined  to  attempt  this  means  if  it  had  not  involved 
serious  delay,  and  still  more  serious  risk  to  both  Abdul 
and  himself.  Hamet  Ali  lived  on  the  far  side  of  the 
town.  Abdul  would  have  to  make  his  way  there, 
waken  his  friend,  explain  the  circumstances,  overcome 
a  probable  reluctance  to  meddle,  fix  a  price  with 
Hamet  Ali,  and  another  for  the  sheik's  servant. 
Every  move  would  be  attended  with  danger.  A 
Moor's  house  is  a  castle  in  miniature.  Any  attempt 
to  rouse  the  inmates  at  this  dead  hour  of  night  would 
necessitate  so  much  noise  and  clatter  as  to  disturb  the 
neighborhood.  The  night  was  wearing  on,  and  be- 
fore Abdul  could,  with  reasonable  regard  to  secrecy, 
obtain  access  to  his  friend's  house,  daylight  might  be 

99 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

upon  them.  The  Moors  are  early  risers,  and  even  if 
all  went  well,  and  Tom  and  the  others  stole  forth  from 
the  village  before  dawn,  they  would  almost  certainly 
be  seen  and  ridden  down  as  they  crossed  the  wide 
rocky  spaces  that  surrounded  the  place.  But  the  most 
serious  consideration  of  all  was  that  of  time :  it  would 
not  be  possible  to  get  into  treaty  with  any  one  inside 
of  the  kasbah  before  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  appeared  on 
the  scene.  Then  the  enterprise  was  doomed  to  fail- 
ure. 

Tom  was  anxiously  discussing  with  himself  the  pros 
and  cons  when  Abdul  plucked  him  by  the  arm. 

"  Day  is  near,  master,"  he  whispered.  "  We  must 
go  by  the  way  we  came." 

Tom  was  reluctant  to  own  himself  beaten;  but 
there  was  clearly  no  hope  for  it.  Gathering  his 
djellab  about  him,  and  pulling  the  hood  over  his  head, 
he  followed  Abdul  with  quick,  noiseless  footsteps 
across  the  square. 

Ahmed  Huk,  apprentice  to  Hamadi  ben  Ibn,  the 
swordsmith  of  Am  Afroo,  had  spent  a  restless  night. 
His  head  throbbed;  he  could  not  sleep;  he  wished  he 
had  not  smoked  so  much  hashish  when  his  work  was 
done  for  the  day.  The  air  of  the  little  shop  was 
close  and  oppressive;  and  after  hours  of  wakefulness, 
turning  from  side  to  side  in  the  vain  effort  to  find 
sleep,  Ahmed  got  up  and  quietly  unbarred  the  little 
wicket  in  the  door,  careful  not  to  disturb  his  master, 
who  was  snoring  loudly  within  a  few  feet  of  him. 

100 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

Perhaps  a  little  fresh  air  from  the  outside  would  cool 
his  heated  brow. 

He  had  not  stood  more  than  a  few  minutes  at  the 
wicket,  and  was  already  thinking  of  returning  to  his 
charpoy,  when  he  noticed,  in  the  moonlight  on  the 
other  side  of  the  square,  two  figures  turn  the  corner 
by  the  kasbah  opposite,  coming  from  the  direction  of 
the  village  wall.  They  at  once  disappeared  into  the 
shadow  thrown  by  the  great  wall  of  the  building,  but 
something  in  their  movements  aroused  the  curiosity 
of  Ahmed.  Why  were  two  wayfarers  abroad  at  so 
late  an  hour?  The  matter  was  not  his  concern;  still, 
he  would  remain  at  the  wicket  a  little  longer,  to  see 
if  the  two  night-walkers  reappeared. 

His  view  was  somewhat  broken  by  the  rows  of 
pillars  supporting  the  colonnade  in  front  of  the  shops 
of  which  his  master's  establishment  was  one;  but 
through  the  interval  between  two  of  them  he  did  at 
last  see  the  two  forms  moving  with  rather  suspicious 
quickness  across  the  illumined  square,  and,  what  was 
more  interesting  to  him,  they  were  seemingly  coming 
in  his  direction.  Were  they  thieves,  he  wondered. 
He  could  hardly  believe  it,  for  the  village  was  small; 
they  could  scarcely  escape  detection;  and  the  sheik's 
ingenuity  in  punishments  was  notorious  even  in  Mo- 
rocco, where  torture  is  a  fine  art. 

With  instinctive  caution  Ahmed  closed  the  wicket, 
leaving  only  a  slit  just  wide  enough  for  him  to  peep 
through.  In  a  few  moments  he  heard  the  slight  rustle 
of  the  strangers'  garments,  and  saw  their  dark  forms 

101 


clearly  outlined  against  the  moonlight.  They  had 
come  under  the  colonnade  and  halted  within  two  or 
three  yards  of  him,  behind  one  of  the  pillars.  They 
whispered  a  little  together,  then  were  silent  for  a 
space,  then  whispered  again:  and  now  Ahmed  was 
interested  indeed,  for,  low  as  their  tones  were,  he 
overheard  a  word  or  two,  and  they  made  him  jump; 
they  were  certainly  not  in  the  Moorish  tongue.  His 
master's  business  had  taken  him  more  than  once  to 
Dar  al  Beida,  and  he  had  heard  such  words  used  by 
the  N'zrani  —  the  unbelievers  who  were  suffered  to 
pollute  the  city  by  their  presence.  How  came  it  that 
here,  in  Ain  Afroo,  a  village  where  no  unbeliever  ever 
set  foot  save  a  dog  of  a  Jew  now  and  then  —  though 
truly  there  were  one  or  two  infidel  wretches  now  safely 
confined  in  the  kasbah  —  how  came  it  that  two  men, 
good  Moors  and  followers  of  the  Prophet,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, were  speaking  in  the  tongue  of  the  infidel? 
It  was  perplexing,  to  say  the  least,  and  undoubtedly 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  Hamadi  his  master. 

Leaving  the  wicket,  Ahmed  silently  groped  his  way 
to  the  charpoy  on  which  the  swordsmith  was  sleeping, 
and  gently  awakened  him.  In  a  low  whisper  he  con- 
veyed the  news  of  his  discovery.  Hamadi  at  once 
rose,  and,  trusting  to  the  pitch  darkness  of  the  colon- 
nade, opened  the  wicket  fully,  and  listened  with  all 
his  ears. 

Tom  and  Abdul  had  no  sooner  crossed  the  square 
than  the  bolts  of  the  shop  door  opposite  which  they 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

had  been  standing  were  softly  drawn  back,  and  Ha- 
madi,  followed  by  his  apprentice,  glided  barefoot  after 
them.  Each  bore  a  sword  —  good  weapons,  as  Ha- 
madi,  who  had  made  them,  well  knew.  Hamadi  saw 
a  vision  of  great  prosperity  and  high  favor  with  the 
sheik.  He  would  follow  up  the  strangers,  if  stran- 
gers they  indeed  were,  to  the  house  where  they  har- 
bored. There  he  would  leave  Ahmed  to  keep  watch, 
while  he  himself  sped  to  the  kasbah  and  told  what  he 
had  seen.  Without  doubt  the  sheik  would  reward 
him  handsomely. 

By  the  time  Hamadi  and  his  boy  had  left  the  shelter 
of  the  colonnade,  the  strangers  had  turned  the  corner 
of  the  far  side  of  the  square;  but  the  pursuers  ran 
quickly  across  the  open  space  and  gained  the  corner 
while  their  quarry  was  still  in  sight. 

Tom  and  his  companion,  picking  their  way  with  all 
caution  through  the  dark,  uneven,  dirty  passages  that 
led  from  the  kasbah  to  the  outer  wall,  went  out  slowly. 
Every  now  and  again  they  stumbled  over  a  loose  cob- 
ble or  a  heap  of  refuse;  then  there  was  a  little  noise 
that  might  betray  their  presence  to  any  one  who  hap- 
pened to  be  within  a  few  yards  of  tliem.  At  such 
times  Abdul  would  throw  a  hurried  glance  back;  well 
he  knew  what  their  fate  would  be  if  they  were  cap- 
tured. 

Suddenly  he  edged  a  little  closer  to  Tom  and  whis- 
pered: 

"Men  follow  us!" 

By  this  time  they  were  almost  within  reach  of  the 
103 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

wall.  Tom  was  alive  to  the  danger  in  which  the 
pursuit  had  placed  them.  Descending  the  wall,  they 
would  have  to  grope  for  foothold.  Before  they  could 
get  clear,  the  pursuers  would  have  come  up  behind, 
and  might  either  topple  down  upon  them  loose  boul- 
ders from  the  wall,  or,  if  they  bore  firearms,  have  them 
at  their  mercy.  The  two  hurried  their  steps. 

"  They  are  close  behind  —  two  men !  "  whispered 
Abdul.  ' 

Tom  glanced  to  each  side  along  the  wall.  There 
was  no  convenient  place  in  which  they  might  take 
refuge  with  any  prospect  of  eluding  their  pursuers. 
They  were  now  hasting  along  at  a  half-run  beneath 
a  long  wall  that  possibly  inclosed  some  gardens  of 
houses  backing  on  the  ramparts.  Here  and  there  this 
wall  was  broken  by  a  doorway;  but  the  gates,  when 
Tom  tested  them  by  a  push,  were  always  closed.  Ab- 
dul was  making  for  the  spot  at  which  they  had  en- 
tered the  village;  it  was  the  nearest,  indeed  the  only 
practicable,  place  of  descent.  But  to  descend,  with 
the  pursuers  upon  them,  would  be  dangerous,  per- 
haps fatal.  To  leave  this  place  of  exit,  and  move 
farther  along  the  ramparts  or  back  into  the  village, 
would  be  almost  equally  dangerous  and  would  lose 
precious  time.  The  only  other  course  open  to  them 
was  to  tackle  the  problem  of  disposing  of  the  pur- 
suers. Tom  nervously  fingered  his  revolver;  but  a 
shot  would  rouse  the  whole  village  and  multiply  the 
pursuers  perhaps  fiftyfold. 

While  Tom  was  feverishly  attempting  to  hit  on 

104 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

some  means  of  dealing  with  the  two  men  these,  un- 
aware that  they  had  been  seen,  were  already  reckon- 
ing up  the  profits  of  a  successful  coup.  As  soon  as 
Hamadi  the  swordsmith  saw  that  the  men  in  front 
were  making  for  the  ramparts,  he  guessed  at  once 
that  they  were  intruders  from  the  outside,  and  he  also 
guessed  the  point  at  which  the  exit  was  to  be  made. 

This  was  not  the  first  time  that  the  place  had  been 
used  as  a  means  of  getting  in  and  out  of  the  village 
by  night.  More  than  once  it  had  happened  that  the 
villagers,  at  feud  with  neighboring  mountaineers,  had 
crept  out  at  night  to  settle  their  scores,  returning 
safely  within  the  walls  before  daybreak.  The  fact 
that  the  gates  were  closed  and  no  one  could  pass  dur- 
ing the  night  was  prima  facie  evidence  of  their  inno- 
cence. It  was  even  said  that  the  sheik  had  settled 
accounts  with  a  hostile  neighbor  in  the  same  way. 
The  swordsmith  therefore  was  quite  justified  in  shap- 
ing his  course  on  the  assumption  that  the  two  men  in 
front  of  him  would  climb  down  the  ruined  part  of 
the  wall,  and  he  would  be  in  ample  time  to  deal  with 
them  when  they  were  clinging  precariously  to  the  face 
of  the  stonework. 

The  only  fault  in  his  calculation  was  that  he  did 
not  reckon  with  the  sharp  eyes  of  Tom's  companion. 
Thus  it  was  that,  passing  incautiously  one  of  the  re- 
cessed doorways  leading  into  the  gardens,  he  sud- 
denly saw  a  thousand  brilliant  lights  flash  before  his 
eyes,  his  sword  flew  from  his  grasp,  and  he  reeled 
dizzily  to  the  ground.  Tom's  muscles  were  hardened 

105 


KING  OF  THE  AIR' 

by  much  exercise  in  engineering  workshops,  and  Ha- 
madi,  though  a  big  man  and  strong,  as  befitted  one 
of  his  trade,  was  not  prepared  for  so  surprising  an 
attack.  Before  he  could  recover  his  wits  Tom  was 
upon  him,  pressing  the  cold  barrel  of  his  revolver  to 
his  ear.  The  man,  although  dizzy,  had  still  enough 
intelligence  left  to  know  what  this  meant,  and  he  lay 
quite  still  while  Tom  wondered  how  he  could  at  the 
same  time  secure  his  vanquished  foe  and  lend  assist- 
ance to  his  companion,  who  was  now  hotly  engaged 
with  the  apprentice.  Abdul,  however,  needed  no  help. 
Before  Tom  had  time  to  decide  upon  his  own  course, 
the  young  Moor,  taking  full  advantage  of  the  dark- 
ness that  neutralized  the  effect  of  his  enemy's  longer 
weapon,  dodged  in  beneath  the  latter's  guard,  and 
got  home  a  shrewd  thrust  in  the  forearm.  Ahmed, 
yelling  lustily,  dropped  his  sword,  spun  round,  and 
set  off  down  the  ramparts  at  full  speed  before 
Abdul  could  repeat  his  stroke. 

Tom  breathed  more  freely.  He  had  at  any  rate, 
he  thought,  gained  a  few  minutes.  The  yells  of  the 
Moor  were  not  likely  to  bring  help  immediately. 
While  a  shot  would  undoubtedly  have  raised  the  guard 
at  the  kasbah,  and  brought  a  party  in  hot  haste  to  the 
spot,  the  cries  of  a  man  yelling  would  probably  only 
cause  a  certain  sleepy  curiosity.  A  Moor  never  puts 
himself  to  unnecessary  trouble,  and  it  would  certainly 
not  be  worth  while  to  pay  much  attention  to  a  brawl 
between  men  who  had  smoked  too  much  hashish.  But 
there  was  still  need  for  haste,  so  with  Abdul's  assist- 

106 


THE  SWORDSMITH  OF  AIN  AFROO 

ance  Tom  trussed  up  the  fallen  swordsmith  with  work- 
manlike bonds  made  of  his  own  garments,  and  in 
another  minute  was  beginning  the  descent  of  the 
wall. 

They  were  only  half-way  down  when  they  heard 
an  uproar  in  the  village.  The  apprentice  had  lost  no 
time  in  gathering  a  band  to  continue  the  pursuit.  Yet 
Tom  could  not  hurry  his  flight,  for  a  false  step  would 
mean  at  least  a  broken  arm,  and  in  all  probability  a 
broken  neck.  With  Abdul  close  behind  he  picked  his 
way  down  the  broken  masonry,  the  shouts  growing 
ever  nearer  and  more  menacing.  At  last  they  reached 
the  bottom.  Then,  Abdul  leading  the  way,  they  hur- 
ried along  the  foot  of  the  wall.  .They  dared  not  yet 
leave  its  shelter,  for  the  moon,  though  now  sinking 
in  the  sky,  still  threw  sufficient  light  to  betray  them 
if  they  attempted  to  cross  the  open  space  towards  the 
hillside. 

Crouching  low  as  they  went,  they  heard  the  pur- 
suers halt  at  the  place  where  they  had  descended. 
But  now  they  had  reached  a  welcome  patch  of  stunted 
bush  which  promised  needful  cover.  Plunging  into 
this,  still  keeping  low  so  that  their  heads  should  not 
show  above  the  scrub,  they  strode  away  at  right  an- 
gles to  the  wall.  Abdul's  knowledge  of  the  country 
served  him  well.  Descending  the  hill,  they  were  soon 
out  of  danger.  Then,  up  and  down  little  eminences, 
over  brooks,  through  patches  of  wood,  they  pressed 
on,  always  bearing  slightly  to  the  right  until  they 
struck  the  true  course.  Almost  in  a  bee-line,  they 

107 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

made  for  tfie  hill  where  Oliphant  was  anxiously  await- 
ing them,  and  arrived  just  after  dawn,  tired  out,  and 
not  a  little  disappointed  with  the  barren  result  of  their 
night's  work. 


108 


CHAPTER    IX 

A  BOLT  FROM   THE  BLUE 

"  Thank  Heaven  you  are  back !  "  said  Oliphant  when 
Tom  appeared  over  the  brow  of  the  hill.  "  I  don't 
think  I  ever  spent  a  more  miserable  night." 

"  Anything  happened  ?  " 

"  No.  It  wouldn't  have  been  so  bad  if  anything 
had.  If  I'd  had  something  to  do  —  somebody  to 
fight,  or  something!" 

"  Well,  you  could  have  gone  to  sleep." 

"  So  I  did,  and  woke  in  a  fright.  I  dreamed  that 
wretched  Jew  fellow  was  coming  at  me  with  out- 
stretched hands,  and  his  finger-nails  were  like  some 
horrid  bird's  claws,  and  he  grew  bigger  and  bigger 
as  he  came  until  he  seemed  as  huge  as  a  mountain. 
But  what  luck  did  you  have  ?  " 

"  None,  or  next  to  none.  The  kasbah's  as  strong 
as  Newgate.  And  the  worst  of  it  is,  we  were  spotted 
and  followed,  had  to  truss  up  one  fellow;  another 
alarmed  the  village.  We  escaped  just  by  the  skin 
of  our  teeth." 

He  related  in  detail  the  incidents  of  the  night. 

"  It  looks  as  if  we'll  have  to  back  out  after  all," 
said  Oliphant  gloomily  when  the  story  was  finished. 

"  I'll  be  hanged  if  we  will.     I've  been  thinking  it 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

over,  and  talking  it  over  with  Abdul,  on  the  way 
back.  The  only  chance,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  face  all 
the  risks  and  make  a  dash  for  it." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"  Come  down  in  the  airship  on  the  terraced  roof  of 
the  kasbah  under  cover  of  night,  and  trust  to  luck  to 
find  our  way  to  the  prisoners'  quarters." 

"  But  that  would  be  confoundedly  risky,  especially 
after  you  have  once  given  the  alarm  in  the  village." 

"  I  admit  that's  a  nuisance,  but  it's  perhaps  not  so 
bad  as  you  think.  You  see,  the  Moors  know  nothing 
—  I  hope  they  don't,  at  any  rate  —  about  the  airship, 
and  they  won't  look  for  intruders  from  the  sky.  The 
botheration  is  that  we've  lost  a  lot  of  time,  and  our 
chance  is  utterly  dished  if  the  Jew  gets  in  first.  Abdul 
says  he  can't  be  more  than  a  day's  march  from  the 
place  now.  That's  about  thirty  miles,  as  near  as  I 
can  make  out.  Luckily  it's  very  rough  country,  so 
that  he  can't  come  fast.  He's  probably  starting  this 
very  morning  for  his  last  stage;  it's  possible  that 
we've  already  lost  our  chance,  for  he's  sure  to  hurry, 
and  if  he  gets  the  ear  of  the  sheik  before  nightfall, 
they'll  be  on  the  watch  for  us." 

"  But  even  without  the  Jew  I  don't  see  how  your 
scheme's  possible.  There  are  sure  to  be  extra  guards 
at  the  wall,  and  if  the  night  were  as  bright  as  this 
they  couldn't  help  seeing  the  machine,  and  we  couldn't 
alight  without  their  knowledge." 

"  Yes ;  but  you  must  allow  for  their  ignorance  and 
superstition.  If  they  do  see  the  airship  swooping 

no 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 

down  on  them  they'll  be  scared  out  of  their  wits; 
they'll  think  it  some  monstrous  evil  bird  straight  from 
Gehenna  — " 

"  Which  is  down  below,  not  up  aloft." 

"  They  won't  be  in  a  state  to  draw  distinctions  of 
that  sort.  Abdul  assures  me  that  these  ignorant  moun- 
taineers—  he  was  one  himself  once,  but  travel  has 
widened  his  mind !  —  will  be  in  such  a  state  of  terror 
that  they'll  be  for  a  time  pretty  well  paralyzed:  and 
time's  all  we  want." 

"  Well,  he  ought  to  know  his  countrymen.  But 
there's  the  Jew :  suppose  he  does  get  there  first  ?  " 

"  We've  got  to  prevent  him." 

"What!" 

"  As  I  say,  we  must  go  and  intercept  him." 

"  But  he  won't  come  alone." 

"Of  course  not.  Abdul  says  he  will  come  on  horse- 
back with  a  band  of  armed  and  mounted  men.  He 
wouldn't  trust  himself  in  this  country  without  an 
escort.  But  that's  where  the  airship  comes  in.  I 
rather  fancy  that  if  we  swoop  down  from  the  sky 
among  a  lot  of  Moors  they'll  think  more  of  their  own 
safety  than  of  the  Jew's." 

"  Still,  we  couldn't  prevent  them  from  going  on 
to  the  village." 

"  I  think  we  could." 

"What!  shoot  'em  down?" 

"  No.  I  don't  want  to  hurt  a  hair  of  their  heads 
if  I  can  help  it.  I  think  we  can  manage  to  chase 
them  back  along  the  way  they  came,  and  do  some- 

iii 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

thing  to  frighten  them  into  the  bargain.  Do  you 
know  how  to  make  throw-downs  ?  " 

"Never  heard  of  'em.     What  are  they?" 

"  I  forgot ;  you  Eton  fellows  never  use  such  things, 
I  suppose.  Well,  I'll  make  some,  and  you'll  confess 
they're  excellent  little  harmless  bombs.  Then  we'll 
be  off." 

Carefully  opening  two  or  three  cartridge  cases,  he 
extracted  the  powder,  and  screwing  it  up  with  some 
tiny  pebbles  in  tissue  paper  from  his  pocket-book,  he 
manufactured  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  little  bombs.  Then 
he  inspected  the  machinery  of  the  airship,  thoroughly 
oiled  the  parts,  and  went  aboard  with  Oliphant  and 
Abdul.  He  allowed  the  machine  to  rise  only  a  few 
feet  from  the  top  of  the  hill,  so  as  to  avoid  if  possible 
observation  from  the  village;  then  he  set  off  in  a 
southeasterly  direction,  keeping  the  hill  between  him 
and  the  kasbah.  Fetching  a  long  circuit,  he  gradu- 
ally bore  southwest,  then  slightly  north,  until,  in  the 
course  of  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  he  struck 
the  narrow  winding  track  which  would  be  followed 
by  parties  traveling  between  the  village  and  the  coast. 

From  their  elevated  position  they  could  trace  the 
path  for  a  considerable  distance  through  the  country, 
but  as  yet  they  had  seen  no  sign  of  a  party  approach- 
ing the  village.  In  broad  daylight  the  airship  must 
have  been  sighted  by  many  people  over  whose  heads 
it  had  passed;  but  from  what  Abdul  had  said  it  was 
unlikely  that  any  one  would  have  -the  least  idea  of  the 
real  nature  of  the  apparition.  They  would  regard  it 

113 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 

as  a  supernatural  creature,  and  if  within  the  next  few 
hours  a  rumor  of  its  appearance  should  be  carried  to 
the  sheik  of  Ain  Afroo,  he  would  probably  be  none 
the  wiser  from  any  description  that  might  be  at- 
tempted. 

It  was  now  little  more  than  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  Jew  could  scarcely  have  passed.  Tom  there- 
fore headed  the  airship  westward,  keeping  it  at  a  low 
speed  so  that  he  might  carefully  scan  the  country  and 
not  let  the  Jew  and  his  party  escape  him.  He  knew 
that,  unless  accident  signally  befriended  him,  the  air- 
ship must  be  seen  by  them  long  before  they  came 
into  sight.  Although  the  country  was  spread  out  like 
a  map,  the  machine  in  the  open  sky  must  be  a  much 
more  conspicuous  object  to  people  below  than  they 
would  be  to  observers  above.  Salathiel  would,  of 
course,  recognize  the  airship;  but  Tom  hoped  that 
before  the  man  could  explain  clearly  to  his  escort  what 
it  was,  the  immediate  object  of  the  aerial  flight  would 
have  been  achieved. 

The  morning  wore  away,  and  Tom  began  to  feel 
anxious.  To  keep  the  airship  so  long  in  motion  in- 
volved the  expenditure  of  a  large  amount  of  his  pro- 
pulsive paste,  and  he  had  brought  only  as  much  of  it 
as  would  last  the  voyage  to  and  from  the  hill  fortress, 
with  a  little  margin  for  accidents.  Yet  he  did  not 
care  to  bring  the  machine  to  rest,  for  he  might  then 
miss  the  party  of  which  he  was  in  search.  Moreover, 
all  the  provisions  were  gone  except  a  few  biscuits 
and  some  tea.  With  no  food  for  themselves  and  no 

113 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

fuel  for  the  machine  their  plight  would  be  desperate. 
Tom  spoke  of  his  anxieties  to  Oliphant,  and  they  were 
still  talking  somewhat  disconsolately,  when  Abdul,  who 
had  never  ceased  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout,  suddenly 
cried  "  Horses ! "  and  pointed  to  sundry  small  specks 
ahead. 

Tom  instantly  started  up  and  looked  through  his 
binocular  in  the  direction  of  the  Moor's  forefinger. 

"  There  are  about  a  score,  I  fancy,"  he  said,  hand- 
ing the  glass  to  Oliphant.  "  Can  you  spot  the  Jew  ?  " 

"  No,  they  are  too  much  mixed  up.  I  shouldn't 
know  him  again,  either." 

"We  shall  know  him  very  soon,  though.  Abdul 
told  me  that  Jews  in  this  country  mostly  wear  blue 
clothes  and  black  skull-caps.  We'll  make  straight  for 
them." 

The  engines  had  lately  been  reduced  to  something 
less  than  half-speed.  Realizing  that  every  second  was 
now  of  value,  Tom  put  them  at  full  speed,  steering 
the  vessel  direct  for  the  party  of  horsemen,  which  had 
just  emerged  from  a  clump  of  timber.  At  the  same 
time  Oliphant  altered  the  inclination  of  the  planes,  so 
that  the  airship  began  to  drop  rapidly  earthward. 
Thus  it  swooped  down  upon  the  party  like  a  huge 
falcon.  To  manipulate  the  engines,  the  steering  gear, 
and  the  lever  affecting  the  planes,  kept  the  hands  of 
Tom  and  his  friend  pretty  fully  occupied;  but  Abdul 
was  to  make  himself  useful,  and  Tom  instructed  him 
to  take  a  handful  of  the  little  bombs,  in  readiness  to 
use  them  when  the  moment  came.  Tom  hoped  that 

114 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 

the  mere  appearance  of  the  sky  monster  would  startle 
the  horses  and  put  the  cavalcade  to  fright.  As  an 
additional  means  of  scaring  them  he  relied  on  the 
throw-downs. 

The  airship  had  come  within  about  two  miles  of 
the  horsemen  when  it  was  seen  that  they  had  halted. 
No  doubt  the  strange  apparition  had  been  observed, 
and  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  was  doing  his  best  to  explain 
its  nature.  They  remained  stationary  until  the  dis- 
tance of  the  airship  from  them  was  less  than  a  mile: 
then  two  of  them  wheeled  suddenly  in  their  tracks 
and  set  off  in  a  mad  gallop  westward.  The  others, 
however,  held  their  ground;  either  they  had  stronger 
nerves,  or  the  Jew  had  managed  to  convince  them 
that  the  strange  object  was  not  an  instrument  of  the 
Evil  One,  but  simply  a  new  invention  of  the  accursed 
people  who  had  invented  warships  and  alarm  clocks. 

iTom  had  just  distinguished  the  figure  of  Salathiel, 
on  a  mule  in  the  midst  of  the  party,  when  there  came 
a  slight  puff  of  smoke  from  the  center  of  the  group, 
followed  by  a  second  and  a  third.  Oliphant  laughed. 

"  They're  firing  at  us,"  he  exclaimed,  "  which  ar- 
gues a  pretty  state  of  fright." 

"  All  very  much  in  our  favor.  Look,  there  are 
three  more  of  them  off  as  hard  as  they  can  go." 

"But  there  are  still  ten  or  a  dozen  of  them.  If 
they  have  nerve  enough  to  hold  their  fire  till  we  come 
within  range  they  may  do  us  some  damage  —  if  their 
guns  are  any  good." 

"There's  not  much  doubt  about  that.  They  get 
"5 


KING  OF  THE  AIR' 

hold  of  good  rifles  somehow.  But  we're  in  for  it 
now.  A  bullet  or  two  in  the  machinery  would  bring 
us  to  the  ground;  we  must  simply  take  our  chance." 

The  airship  was  now  approaching  the  party  at  the 
speed  of  a  fast  train.  Moment  by  moment  others  of 
the  horsemen  detached  themselves  fiom  the  group  and 
galloped  after  their  comrades,  and  Tom  gave  a  cry 
when  he  saw  that  the  Jew  was  among  the  fugitives. 
Still  several  remained. 

"  It  won't  do  to  allow  them  to  get  between  us  and 
the  kasbah,"  said  Tom.  "  We  must  drive  the  whole 
lot  of  them  back  toward  the  coast." 

The  airship  was  now  only  some  three  hundred  feet 
above  the  ground.  Suddenly  Tom  shut  off  the  hori- 
zontal propellers  and  brought  the  vertical  engines  into 
play.  The  airship  swept  onward  at  the  same  level 
by  virtue  of  its  momentum.  The  horses  of  the  Moors 
began  to  rear  and  plunge.  They  had  probably  heard 
the  whir  of  the  machinery,  for  not  being  long-sighted 
beasts  it  was  possible  that  they  had  not  yet  seen  the 
vessel  above  them. 

"By  George!  aren't  they  magnificent  horsemen!" 
said  Oliphant,  as  he  saw  the  Moors  striving  to  hold 
their  terrified  animals  in.  One  or  two  puffs,  followed 
immediately  by  the  reports  of  the  rifles,  came  from 
the  group;  but  with  their  horses  rearing  and  plung- 
ing beneath  them  it  was  not  surprising  that  the  Moors 
missed  the  airship,  though  it  now  offered  a  consid- 
erable mark.  It  was  immediately  above  them. 
"Now,  Abdul!"  said  Tom. 

116 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 

The  Moor  flung  one  of  the  little  bombs  earthward 
with  all  his  force.  It  exploded  at  the  very  feet  of 
one  of  the  horses,  which,  frenzied  with  fear,  took  the 
bit  between  its  teeth  and  bolted.  Abdul  threw  half 
a  dozen  more,  one  after  another,  laughing  with  glee 
at  the  astonishing  effect  of  the  little  bombs.  There 
was  no  holding  the  horses  any  longer,  and  the  whole 
party  dashed  away  at  a  mad  gallop  along  the  road 
they  had  come. 

It  was  not  Tom's  object  to  overtake  them  yet  a 
while.  He  put  the  horizontal  engines  at  half-speed, 
and  the  airship  began  to  follow  the  fugitives  like  a 
sheep-dog  at  the  heels  of  a  frantic  flock.  The  little 
group  which  had  stood  to  the  last  were  evidently  the 
best  mounted  of  the  party,  for  they  gradually  closed 
in  upon  those  who  had  started  earlier.  Tom  could 
not  forbear  chuckling  as  he  came  upon  the  rotund 
black-capped  figure  of  Salathiel  ben  Ezra  striving  to 
urge  his  steady-going  mule  to  a  brisker  pace. 

"  Is  it  safe  to  leave  him  behind  ?  "  asked  Oliphant, 
as  the  Jew  was  outstripped  and  passed. 

"  Oh,  yes !  We'll  come  back  for  him  presently. 
We  could  easily  catch  him  up.  If  the  mule  is  like 
most  of  his  kind  he  won't  hurry  himself." 

The  airship  sped  on  after  the  rest  of  the  party. 
Mile  after  mile  was  covered :  the  horses  showed  signs 
of  fatigue,  but  one  or  two  that  were  dropping  behind 
were  galvanized  into  further  desperate  efforts  by  the 
dreaded  whir  of  the  propellers  just  in  their  rear. 

The  chase  had  continued  for  about  half  an  hour 
117 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

when  Abdul  suddenly  noticed  that  the  number  of 
fugitives  was  one  less  than  it  had  been  when  the  flight 
began.  None  of  the  three  occupants  of  the  airship 
had  seen  a  rider  diverge  from  the  track:  to  do  so 
would  indeed  have  been  difficult,  for  it  ran  through 
uneven  and  rocky  ground  which  offered  little  footway 
for  a  horse.  Yet  it  was  clear  that  one  of  the  Moors 
had  at  some  point  or  other  left  his  comrades  and  rid- 
den off  to  right  or  left. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Tom.  "  If  he  tries  to  get  to 
the  village,  I've  no  doubt  we  can  overtake  him.  His 
horse  will  be  no  match  for  us." 

"  Don't  you  think  we've  chased  them  far  enough  ?  " 
asked  Oliphant.  "  We're  using  up  a  great  deal  of 
your  paste." 

"  Yes.  I  think  we've  pretty  well  disposed  of 
them  now.  We'll  swing  round  and  go  back  for  Mas- 
ter Salathiel." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  him  —  not  bring 
him  up  here  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  We  don't  want  him  —  not  for 
long,  at  least.  I've  got  an  idea.  But  we  must  get 
hold  of  him  first." 

Bringing  the  airship  about  in  a  wide  circle,  Tom 
steered  it  back  along  the  track  in  search  of  the  Jew. 

"  The  donkey ! "  cried  Oliphant,  as  presently  the 
man  came  in  sight,  making  desperate  efforts  to  gain 
the  village.  "He  might  have  hidden  himself  among 
the  rocks  or  the  trees,  and  given  us  no  end  of  trou- 
ble." 

1x8 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE 

"  I  don't  know.  He  has  chosen  probably  the  lesser 
of  two  evils.  He'd  have  a  bad  time  of  it  if  he  were 
found  alone  by  any  wandering  Moors ;  his  best  chance 
was  certainly  to  try  to  get  to  the  village  and  tell  the 
sheik  all  he  knows." 

The  Jew  could  be  seen  every  now  and  again  glanc- 
ing anxiously  back  along  the  track.  When  he  caught 
sight  of  the  airship  returning,  and  realized  that  he  was 
bound  to  be  overtaken,  he  pulled  up  his  mule,  tumbled 
off  the  saddle,  and  dived  into  the  cover  of  some  rocks, 
hoping  no  doubt  that  they  would  afford  him  conceal- 
ment. 

"  Too  late !  "  said  Tom  with  a  chuckle.  "  He  might 
escape  us  if  we  were  on  his  level,  but  he  forgets  we 
can  look  right  down  upon  him." 

"  It's  like  a  field-mouse  trying  to  escape  from  a 
hawk,"  said  Oliphant. 

"  Rather  worse,  for  a  field-mouse  has  its  color  to 
help  it,  while  Salathiel's  blue  coat  makes  him  a  little 
too  conspicuous." 

For  a  few  moments  the  Jew,  indeed,  disappeared 
from  view;  but  Tom  steered  the  airship  exactly  above 
the  spot  where  he  was  last  seen,  and  there  was 
Salathiel  crouching  in  a  cleft  much  too  narrow  for 
him. 

There  was  no  convenient  landing-place  among  the 
rocks  where  the  airship  could  be  brought  safely  to 
rest,  and  the  Jew,  apparently  recognizing  this,  did  not 
attempt  to  stir  from  his  position.  But  the  vessel  came 
to  rest  in  the  air,  hovering  like  a  monstrous  humming- 

119 


KING  OF  THE  AIR' 

bird  above  the  trembling  man,  no  more  than  twenty 
feet  from  the  ground. 

"How  shall  we  get  at  him?"  asked  Oliphant. 

"  We  can  leave  that  to  Abdul,  I  think,"  replied 
Tom.  "  He  is  used  to  shipboard,  and  he  has  been  on 
the  end  of  our  rope  before." 

Abdul  understood  what  was  required  of  him.  Let- 
ting down  the  rope  with  the  grapnel  at  the  end,  he 
swarmed  nimbly  down,  armed  only  with  his  knife. 
The  two  in  the  car  smiled  to  see  what  ensued.  Sala- 
thiel  was  unarmed.  He  broke  forth  in  a  torrent  of 
mingled  threats  and  entreaties  as  the  Moor  approached 
him,  then  lay  on  his  back  and  tried  to  repel  the  lad 
with  his  feet.  But  Abdul  got  behind  him,  and  by 
discreet  employment  of  the  point  of  his  knife  at  length 
persuaded  the  Jew  into  the  open. 

Then  Tom  let  the  airship  gently  down.  When  it 
stood  upon  terra  firma,  he  and  Oliphant  leaped  out 
of  the  car,  bundled  Salathiel  into  it,  and  in  another 
minute  were  soaring  through  the  air  toward  their 
former  resting-place  on  the  hill.  With  Salathiel's 
added  weight  the  airship  traveled  somewhat  slowly, 
and  for  some  time,  when  a  breeze  rose  from  the  east- 
ward, it  had  considerable  difficulty  in  making  head- 
way at  all.  But  at  last  the  flat-topped  hill  was  opened 
up  on  the  horizon,  Tom  estimating  that  the  return 
journey  had  taken  more  than  twice  as  long  as  the 
outward  trip  in  the  morning. 


120 


CHAPTER    X 

THE  KASBAH 

Instead  of  alighting  on  the  former  spot  on  the  top 
of  the  hill,  Tom  this  time  let  the  airship  down  at  the 
foot. 

"We  haven't  darkness  to  cover  us  this  time,"  he 
said,  "and  we  don't  want  to  be  spied  from  the  vil- 
lage." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  our  fat  friend?  " 
asked  Oliphant. 

"  Well,  I  thought  of  taking  him  some  miles  into 
the  wilder  parts  of  the  hills  and  leaving  him;  but  I 
don't  want  to  use  any  more  of  our  fuel  than  I  can 
help.  Besides,  I  don't  want  to  have  the  fellow  mur- 
dered, though  his  Moor  friend  might  have  done  for 
poor  Timothy.  What  do  you  say  to  giving  him  a 
lodging  in  one  of  the  caves  ?  " 

"  But  how  in  the  world  could  we  get  him  up 
there?" 

"  Abdul  says  it  can  be  done.  I  forgot  to  tell  you 
that  on  our  way  to  Ain  Afroo  that  night  I  told  Abdul 
of  our  discovery,  and  he  said  he  knew  the  caves  well, 
and  had  often  climbed  into  them.  The  tradition  of 
the  country  is  that  they  were  actually  cut  in  the  rocks 

121 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

ages  ago  as  a  refuge  when  the  people  were  pressed  by 
their  enemies." 

"  Well,  it's  a  capital  idea  if  it  can  be  managed.  The 
Jew  would  be  out  of  harm's  way,  at  any  rate." 

"  Yes.  And  if  we  succeed  in  releasing  Ingleton, 
we  can  come  back  for  him,  perhaps,  and  take  him  into 
Rabat  or  Casa  Blanca,  and  make  him  disgorge  some 
of  Abdul's  property,  which  I've  no  doubt  he  has  ap- 
propriated." 

"  But  won't  he  starve  ?  We  can't  spare  him  any 
food." 

"  A  day's  fasting  won't  hurt  him.  We're  on  un- 
commonly short  rations  ourselves,  and  there's  no  rea- 
son why  he  should  fare  better  than  we." 

"  But  can  we  get  him  up  ?     He's  a  big  fellow." 

"We'll  do  our  best  with  Abdul's  help.  One  of 
the  caves  is  more  easy  to  get  at  than  the  others,  Abdul 
says." 

"  By  Jove,  we've  forgotten  that  fellow  who  got 
away ! " 

"  Hang  it,  so  we  have.  It  can't  be  helped.  We 
clearly  can't  catch  him  now  without  showing  ourselves 
to  the  people  of  Ain  Afroo.  Perhaps  he  didn't  make 
for  the  village,  after  all.  We  must  dispose  of  Sala- 
thiel,  at  any  rate." 

Tom  and  Oliphant  had  been  talking  apart,  while 
Abdul  kept  watch  over  the  Jew.  The  former  now: 
went  up  to  the  man. 

"  Mr.  Salathiel,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  exactly  know 
what  your  game  is,  but  we  think  it's  advisable  you 

122 


THE  KASBAH 

should  have  a  little  rest  after  your  arduous  work  with 
the  mule.  There's  a  very  comfortable  cave  some 
eighty  feet  above  your  head.  The  way  to  it  is  rather 
steep,  but  with  our  assistance  you  can  mount  there, 
and  remain  in  perfect  safety  until  we  can  fetch  you 
and  restore  you  to  your  friends." 

"  I  protest  you  treat  me  badly,"  said  Salathiel,  his 
mien  expressing  mingled  fear  and  indignation.  "  I 
am  a  peaceable  merchant,  and  was  on  my  way  to 
treat  with  the  sheik  of  Ain  Afroo  for  a  supply  of  car- 
pets from  Rabat,  when — " 

"  Still,  you  must  be  fatigued,"  said  Tom.  "  We 
also  have  business  with  the  sheik,  and  I  fear  that 
until  ours  is  completed  yours  must  wait.  Ours  is  a 
prior  engagement,  Mr.  Salathiel.  Now  if  you  will 
please  climb  the  hillside.  The  first  steps  are  easy;  we 
will  help  you  when  you  find  further  ascent  difficult." 

For  some  moments  the  Jew  tried  entreaty,  cajolery, 
even  bribery  —  in  vain.  With  a  very  bad  grace  he 
began  to  clamber  up  the  rocks,  reaching  at  length  a 
ledge  some  twenty-five  feet  below  the  cave.  The  hill 
was  here  almost  perpendicular,  and  when  Salathiel 
looked  at  the  wall  of  rock  above  him  he  pleaded  again 
with  great. volubility  to  be  allowed  to  go  his  way. 

But  Abdul  was  already  swarming  up  with  a  rope 
between  his  teeth.  The  Englishmen  watched  him  with 
admiration.  Sticking  fingers  and  toes  into  the  slight- 
est crevice,  taking  advantage  of  every  little  irregu- 
larity in  the  surface,  he  accomplished  what  had  seemed 
from  below  an  impossible  feat.  When  he  reached  the 

123 


cave,  he  tied  one  end  of  the  rope  to  a  spur  of  rock  at 
the  entrance,  and  let  down  the  other  to  Oliphant,  who 
by  its  assistance  managed  to  follow.  Salathiel  for  a 
time  absolutely  refused  to  mount;  but  when  Tom 
pointed  out  that  in  the  cave  he  would  at  least  be  safe, 
while  no  one  could  answer  for  what  might  happen  if 
he  wandered  about  the  country  alone,  he  at  length 
allowed  the  rope  to  be  wound  about  him,  and  was 
hauled  up  by  the  two  above.  He  was  supplied  with 
a  pot  of  water  from  the  hill-stream  and  a  half-dozen 
biscuits,  then  Oliphant  descended,  followed  by  Abdul 
with  the  rope. 

"  I  don't  think  he'll  attempt  the  descent,"  said  Tom. 
"  It  requires  more  nerve  than  I  fancy  he's  got." 

"  It  doesn't  matter  much  if  he  does,  does  it  ?  He 
won't  try  it  while  we  are  hereabout.  He'll  hardly 
try  it  in  the  dark  when  we  are  gone;  and  if  he  does, 
and  gets  safely  to  the  bottom,  he'll  take  so  long  finding 
his  way  to  the  village  that  we  shall  have  done  our 
business  there  —  if  we're  going  to  do  it  at  all." 

"  Still,  I  think  we'll  make  sure.  There  are  one  or 
two  bits  of  rock  sticking  out  that  give  a  slight  foot- 
hold; Abdul  may  as  well  knock  them  off.  He  won't 
want  them  himself  when  we  come  back  to  release  the 
Jew." 

"  Suppose  we  don't  come  back !  " 

"You  mean,  suppose  we  come  to  grief  ourselves! 
Well,  he'll  be  able  to  signal  for  help  from  the  mouth 
of  the  cave  to-morrow;  some  of  his  cronies  are  sure 
to  wonder  what's  become  of  him  and  be  prowling 

124 


THE  KASBAH 

about.  It  won't  matter  to  us  then,  for  we  shall  have 
either  succeeded  or  failed." 

"  Suppose  we  can't  come  back,  and  nobody  sees  his 
signals ! " 

"  That's  his  lookout !  Didn't  we  rescue  him  from 
the  shark,  which  would  have  snapped  him  up  when 
the  tide  rose  another  few  inches?  How  has  he  re- 
paid us?  By  trying  to  do  for  us.  And  it  isn't  as  if 
he  were  a  Moor,  serving  his  country.  He  hasn't  an 
ounce  of  patriotism  in  his  composition.  He's  simply 
on  the  make.  He  wanted  to  get  a  good  haul  out  of 
the  sheik  for  giving  us  away,  and  upon  my  word, 
considering  all  things,  I  think  he  gets  off  pretty  easily. 
If  he'd  treated  Moors  as  he  has  treated  us,  he'd  be 
dying  a  particularly  slow  death  by  this  time.  I  don't 
think  we  need  distress  ourselves  about  Salathiel  ben 
Ezra." 

Leaving  the  Jew  to  his  solitary  reflections,  the  two 
made  their  way  back  to  the  airship  and  began  to  over- 
haul the  machinery.  Meanwhile  Abdul  had  gone  to 
the  summit  of  the  hill  to  bring  down  one  or  two 
things  which  had  been  left  there.  He  returned  with 
the  news  that  he  had  seen  in  the  far  distance  a  single 
horseman  slowly  climbing  the  steep  hill-path  to  the 
village. 

"  That's  our  man,  depend  upon  it,"  said  Oliphant. 
"  He'll  give  us  away,  Dorrell,  as  sure  as  fate." 

"  What  can't  be  cured  must  be  endured.  We  could 
catch  him,  I  dare  say;  but  we  haven't  any  too  much 
fodder  for  the  engine,  and  we  should  certainly  be 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

seen.  He  must  tell  the  sheik  all  he  knows,  and,  upon 
my  word,  I  should  like  to  hear  his  account  of  us.  It 
would  probably  be  very  funny." 

"  But  it  will  put  the  sheik  on  his  guard." 

"  My  dear  fellow,  you  haven't  enough  faith  in  the 
terrors  of  the  unknown,  or  the  misknown.  The 
Moor's  story  will  be  such  a  mass  of  exaggeration,  ig- 
norance, and  superstition,  that  they'll  be  in  a  state  of 
jumps,  and  dread  the  apparition  ten  times  more  even 
than  if  it  came  upon  them  without  preparation." 

"  Then  why  go  to  the  trouble  of  preventing  the 
Jew  from  getting  into  the  village?" 

"Just  because  he  knows  the  thing,  you  see,  and 
would  stick  to  the  bare  truth.  His  story  would  lay 
more  stress  on  the  object  of  our  visit;  the  Moor's 
will  be  mainly  about  the  airship.  Really,  he  may 
help  us  in  the  end." 

They  spent  the  afternoon  in  a  thorough  cleaning 
of  the  engines.  Once  or  twice  Salathiel  showed  him- 
self at  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  Tom  fancied  he 
saw  him  attempt  to  signal  with  his  hands.  But  when 
Oliphant  made  a  movement  towards  his  carbine,  the 
Jew  retreated  hastily  into  the  interior  and  appeared 
no  more. 

At  last  all  was  ready  for  the  voyage.  But  sev- 
eral hours  must  yet  pass  before  the  ascent  could  be 
made.  Tom  had  decided  that  it  would  be  unwise 
to  arrive  at  the  kasbah  until  the  Moors  were  either  in 
their  first  sleep,  or,  if  on  their  guard,  were  somewhat 
tired  and  nervous  with  watching.  Learning  this,  Ab- 


THE  KASBAH 

dul,  who  had  been  making  observations  during  the 
afternoon,  left  the  two  Englishmen  and  was  not  seen 
for  a  time.  When  he  returned,  he  carried  a  couple 
of  hares,  explaining  that  he  had  snared  them  in  the 
wood  that  lay  half  a  mile  beyond  their  resting-place. 
He  produced  also  from  the  folds  of  his  garment  a 
number  of  figs  and  dates  which  he  had  plucked  from 
the  trees. 

"  Here's  a  tuck-in !  "  cried  Tom.  "  I'm  as  hungry 
as  a  hunter.  Oatmeal  biscuits  are  all  very  well,  but 
they're  a  trifle  too  chippy  for  my  taste.  I  suppose 
you,  as  a  Scotsman,  think  'em  quite  succulent,  Oli- 
phant?" 

"  Do  I,  by  George !  You  Englishmen  make  a  good 
many  mistakes  about  us  Scots,  and  that's  one  of  them. 
Besides,  I'm  only  Scotch  when  I  want  a  stoker's  place 
—  or  when  I  let  off  some  of  my  stories  on  the  fellows 
in  Booker's.  I  was  rather  bad  once,  though.  When 
I  first  went  to  Tabor's  as  a  little  chap,  on  my  first  day 
I  dropped  my  cap  somewhere,  and  asked  one  of  the 
masters  if  he'd  seen  it.  I'd  just  come  from  our  village 
school  up  north  —  a  whim  of  the  governor's,  you 
know  —  and  I  suppose  I'd  a  touch  of  the  brogue,  for 
when  I  said,  '  Please,  sir,  have  you  seen  my  cap  ? ' 
he  said  quite  pat,  '  Are  you  MacFarlane  ? '  And  he 
called  me  MacFarlane  until  I  left." 

Abdul  had  chosen  a  sheltered  hollow,  and  built  a 
rough  canopy  of  branches  and  leaves.  Beneath  this 
he  kindled  a  fire,  and  cooked  one  of  the  hares.  The 
table  appointments  were  not  exactly  those  that  either 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

of  the  lads  was  accustomed  to,  but,  as  Oliphant  re- 
marked, they  were  in  a  primitive  country,  and  it  was 
not  unfitting  that  they  should  resort  to  the  manners 
of  their  ancestors.  Both  confessed  that  they  had  never 
enjoyed  a  meal  so  much  as  this,  and  felt  all  the  more 
ready  for  the  adventures  of  the  night. 

The  moon  was  shedding  a  cold  radiance  around,  in 
strange  contrast  with  the  hot  and  sultry  air,  when  the 
airship  with  its  three  passengers  rose  from  the  foot 
of  the  hill  and  started  on  its  voyage  for  the  kasbah  of 
Ain  Afroo.  To  lessen  the  chances  of  premature  dis- 
covery, Tom  ascended  to  a  considerable  altitude,  with 
the  intention  of  dropping  obliquely  upon  the  kasbah. 
He  was  thus  able  to  dispense  in  great  part  with  the 
action  of  the  propellers  as  the  airship  drew  near  to 
its  destination,  which  was  very  desirable,  seeing  that 
they  made  a  loud  whirring  which  must  otherwise  have 
attracted  attention.  But  by  ascending  to  a  height  of 
nearly  three  thousand  feet,  and  then  adjusting  the 
planes  so  that  the  airship  fell  at  a  sharp  angle,  he 
could  make  use  of  the  force  of  gravity  to  carry  him 
in  the  right  direction  without  employing  the  hori- 
zontal screws.  Finding,  however,  when  half  the  dis- 
tance had  been  covered,  that  the  airship  was  coming 
too  near  the  ground,  he  set  the  vertical  screws  in  mo- 
tion, rose  a  few  hundred  feet,  and  again  dropped  ob- 
liquely towards  his  objective. 

The  whole  country  was  bathed  in  the  moon's  pale 
light,  and  lay  in  perfect  silence  save  for  the  faint 
barking  of  dogs  here  and  there.  The  three  adventur- 


THE  KASBAH 

ers  said  never  a  word ;  neither  Tom  nor  Oliphant  was 
in  a  mood  for  talking,  now  that  the  real  business  of 
the  expedition  was  so  near  at  hand.  It' was  not  until 
the  airship  was  hovering  exactly  over  the  flat  roof  of 
the  kasbah  that  they  knew,  from  shouts  below,  that  the 
strange  visitant  had  been  observed.  But  some  mo- 
ments must  elapse,  presumably,  before  the  alarm  could 
penetrate  to  the  sheik's  apartments;  and,  aware  that 
the  success  of  the  adventure  depended  on  his  coolness 
and  caution,  Tom  brought  the  airship  to  rest  with  as 
much  deliberation  as  if  he  were  landing  from  a  prac- 
tice voyage. 

A  shot  from  a  musket  struck  one  of  the  planes. 

"  The  sentry  on  the  terrace  has  caught  sight  of 
us,"  said  Tom,  as  he  was  stepping  out  of  the  car. 
"  Let  us  hope  that  after  having  done  his  duty  he'll 
be  sufficiently  scared  to  bolt  for  the  town,  instead  of 
coming  up  to  warn  the  sheik." 

The  program  had  been  settled  before  they  started. 
Oliphant  was  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  airship,  while 
Tom  and  the  Moor  attempted  to  get  into  the  house 
and  release  the  prisoner. 

"  Remain  in  the  car,"  said  Tom,  "  and  have  every- 
thing ready  to  ascend  at  a  moment's  notice." 

"  Wish  you  good  luck,  old  fellow,"  returned  Oli- 
phant. "  You've  got  your  revolver?  " 

"  Yes.    'An  revolrl " 

He  glanced  anxiously  round  for  the  opening  that 
led  from  the  roof  into  the  house.  In  the  ordinary 
way  it  would  not  be  closed;  indeed,  during  the  sum- 

129 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

mer  months,  except  when  rain  threatened,  such  open- 
ings were  seldom  covered.  Unless  the  fugitive  had 
the  gift  of  second  sight,  it  was  improbable  that  he 
would  ever  have  imagined  that  the  airship  would  de- 
scend on  the  very  roof  of  the  sheik's  own  dwelling. 
Thus  the  inmates  would  have  no  reason  to  guard 
against  intrusion  from  above.  Things  might  have 
been  different  in  a  populous  town,  where  access  could 
be  had  from  one  roof  to  another.  But  the  kasbah 
stood  quite  solitary,  and  the  nearest  buildings  were 
inaccessible. 

The  opening,  in  point  of  fact,  lay  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  spot  upon  which  the  airship  had  de- 
scended. 

Carrying  an  electric  torch  in  one  hand  and  his 
revolver  in  the  other,  Tom  stepped  gingerly  down  the 
staircase,  followed  by  the  Moor,  who  held  his  knife 
ready  for  instant  use.  They  came  across  a  small  ves- 
tibule, lit  at  the  far  end  by  the  moonlight  streaming 
through  a  narrow  aperture  in  the  wall.  To  the  right 
and  left  was  a  door;  one  led  no  doubt  to  the  sheik's 
harem,  the  other  probably  to  the  apartments  of  the 
male  members  of  the  family;  but  Abdul  was  unable 
to  say  which  was  which.  There  were  no  bolts  on 
the  outside  of  these  doors,  which  were  fast  shut,  but 
each  had  a  very  large  keyhole. 

Inasmuch  as  the  entry  to  this  part  of  the  house  was 
no  doubt  barred  beneath  by  a  door  on  the  staircase,  it 
was  quite  possible  that  the  inhabitants  felt  themselves 
secure  enough  to  dispense  with  locking  these  doors. 

130 


THE  KASBAH 

Certainly  a  Moor  will  never  take  any  trouble  if  he 
can  avoid  it. 

Choosing  the  right-hand  door,  Tom  gently  turned 
the  handle;  the  door  opened  to  his  push,  and,  insert- 
ing his  hand,  he  discovered,  as  he  had  ventured  to  hope, 
a  heavy  key  in  the  lock.  He  silently  withdrew  it, 
closed  the  door,  and  turned  the  key  on  the  outside; 
Abdul  at  the  same  time,  taking  the  cue,  did  the  same 
with  the  other  door  on  the  left.  Both  locks  squeaked 
somewhat,  and  Tom  thought  he  heard  voices  within. 
Without  waiting,  however,  to  assure  himself  on  this 
point  —  feeling  that  he  had  the  inmates  secure,  at 
least  for  a  time  —  he  pushed  on  down  the  stairway, 
followed  by  Abdul,  and  they  came,  as  they  had  ex- 
pected, upon  a  strong  door  bolted  on  their  side.  Tom 
gently  slid  the  bolts,  opened  the  door,  and  found  him- 
self in  a  small  vestibule.  On  the  far  side  of  this  was 
another  door,  which  the  Moor  thought  was  the  inner 
door  of  the  guest-chamber.  This  Tom  expected  would 
be  locked  on  the  outside,  but  when  he  flashed  his 
torch  at  it  he  saw  that  the  bolts  were  not  shot.  He 
turned  the  handle  of  the  door,  which  opened  outward. 
No  doubt,  he  thought,  the  Moors  considered  their  pris- 
oner quite  safe  without  the  necessity  of  locking  him  in 
from  this  side.  Access  to  the  lower  quarters  being 
barred,  they  would  not  object  to  his  going  up  to  the 
roof,  perhaps,  for  fresh  air.  The  other  door  to  the 
right  of  the  guest-chamber  leading  on  to  the  terrace 
was  securely  locked,  as  Abdul  proved  by  pushing  it 
gently  so  as  to  avoid  noise. 

131 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Tom  tiptoed  through  the  door,  and  cautiously  low- 
ering his  torch  in  order  to  avoid  flashing  it  on  any 
window  openings  on  the  far  side,  swept  it  round  the 
room.  He  gave  a  start  of  keen  disappointment  when 
he  found  that  the  place  was  untenanted.  It  bore 
traces  of  recent  occupation,  but  the  occupant,  whoever 
he  was,  had  been  removed.  There  were  a  couple  of 
bright  oriental  rugs  on  the  floor,  a  dish  such  as  the 
Moors  are  accustomed  to  serve  sweetmeats  on,  and 
one  or  two  other  native  articles;  but  on  one  of  the 
rugs  lay  a  well-browned  brier  pipe,  which  was  clearly 
of  European  origin,  and  indeed  Tom  was  conscious 
of  the  familiar  odor  of  tobacco  —  a  very  different  smell 
from  that  made  by  the  kief  or  hashish  smoked  by  the 
Moors.  And,  strangest  contrast  of  all,  a  somewhat 
tattered  newspaper,  and  a  bulky  volume  in  a  red  paper 
cover,  showed  that  the  sheik's  prisoner  had  certainly 
inhabited  this  room,  and  had  found  some  means  of 
lightening  his  captivity. 

Tom  took  in  these  details  in  a  moment.  Anxious 
to  further  his  errand,  he  did  not  pause  to  look  at  the 
contents  of  the  room  minutely,  but  hurried  across  to  a 
door  on  the  farther  side,  leading,  he  suspected,  to  the 
terrace.  This  was  bolted,  but  from  the  inside. 

He  halted  in  perplexity.  What  had  become  of  the 
prisoner  ? 

"  Have  they  taken  him  to  the  upper  apartments  ?  " 
he  asked  Abdul  in  a  whisper. 

"  No,  master,"  replied  the  lad.  "  No  Moor  would 
think  of  it." 

132 


THE  KASBAH 

"  Do  you  think  he  has  been  released  ?  But  no : 
that  is  unlikely.  Salathiel  would  certainly  not  have 
come  so  far  in  that  case,  would  he?  " 

"  No.  The  mouse  does  not  put  his  head  in  the 
jaws  of  the  lion." 

"  And  the  smell  of  tobacco  is  quite  fresh.  I  be- 
lieve the  prisoner  has  only  lately  been  removed. 
Where  would  they  take  him  if  they  feared  an  attempt 
at  rescue?  " 

With  a  significant  look  Abdul  pointed  downwards. 

"The  dungeons,  eh?     Where  are  they?" 

"  Under  the  ground,  master." 

"  Well,  we  must  get  down  there  if  we  can.  Do 
you  know  the  way?" 

The  Moor  hesitated.  He  knew  too  well  the  fate 
of  unhappy  people  who  had  offended  the  sheik,  and 
upon  whom  the  sheik  exercised  the  power  of  life  and 
death.  Once,  in  Tangier,  he  had  accompanied  a  friend 
to  such  a  dungeon,  where  his  friend's  father  was  con- 
fined for  denying  that  he  possessed  hidden  treasure. 
The  man's  eyes  had  been  put  out,  one  of  his  hands 
had  been  cut  off,  and  he  had  languished  for  years  in 
this  loathsome  place,  where  he  would  have  starved 
but  for  the  food  brought  him  daily  by  his  son,  and 
handed  to  him  through  a  grating.  Abdul  had  no  wish 
to  see  the  inside  of  the  kasbah's  dungeon. 

But  his  hesitation  was  only  momentary.  Tom  was 
clearly  determined  to  pursue  his  object,  and  the  Moor 
reflected  that,  whatever  he  did,  he  was  in  parlous 
danger.  Besides,  did  not  everything  happen  by  the 

133 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

will  of  Allah?  If  it  was  decreed  that  he  should  die, 
he  would  die;  if  he  was  doomed  to  a  living  death  in 
prison,  nothing  that  he  could  do  would  avert  his  fate. 
So,  with  a  Moor's  habitual  fatalism,  he  told  his  em- 
ployer all  he  knew. 

There  was  doubtless  one  entrance  to  the  dungeon 
from  the  patio  beneath,  where  the  jailer  occupied  a 
room  near  the  great  gateway.  But  there  must  also 
be  an  entrance  from  within  the  house.  Below  the 
vestibule  in  which  they  then  stood  was  probably  an- 
other vestibule,  dividing  the  rooms  of  the  servants' 
apartments.  Whether  there  was  any  communication 
between  the  two  vestibules  he  did  not  know;  per- 
haps it  was  from  the  terrace  outside.  In  all  proba- 
bility the  inner  entrance  to  the  dungeon  was  from 
the  vestibule  below. 

This  gave  Tom  pause.  So  far  He  had  been  un- 
molested; indeed,  it  was  only  a  couple  of  minutes 
since  he  had  left  the  roof.  But  the  thought  of  hav- 
ing to  pass  the  servants'  apartments  was  decidedly 
unpleasant.  The  sentry's  shot  must  have  been  heard; 
he  wondered  why  the  servants  had  not  already  come 
up  to  warn  or  to  take  orders  from  the  sheik.  Luckily 
the  sheik  himself  and  all  his  family  were  securely 
locked  in  their  apartments.  The  menials  might  at 
any  rate  be  expected  to  prove  less  formidable. 

There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  It  suddenly  occurred 
to  Tom  that  the  floor  of  the  vestibule  might  have  a 
kind  of  trap-door.  He  pulled  aside  one  of  the  rugs 
that  covered  the  stones ;  there  was  indeed  a  trap-door, 

134 


THE  KASBAH 

not  secured  in  any  way.  Down  he  went  on  hands 
and  knees.  Releasing  the  button  of  the  electric  torch 
so  that  the  room  was  in  darkness,  he  lifted  the  door 
half  an  inch,  and  guessed  from  the  absence  of  light 
that  the  vestibule  below  was  unoccupied.  He  cau- 
tiously raised  the  covering  still  farther  and  listened. 
There  was  no  sound.  He  set  his  foot  on  a  ladder  be- 
neath, and,  moving  so  slowly  and  gently  as  to  make 
not  so  much  as  a  rustle,  he  went  down  step  by  step, 
pausing  once  or  twice  to  strain  his  ears.  Still  there 
was  no  sound.  When  he  reached  the  floor  he  ven- 
tured to  flash  a  light  around  him.  He  saw  he  was 
in  a  stone-flagged  chamber  of  equal  size  with  the  ves- 
tibule above.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  was  a  cir- 
cular stone  slab  with  an  iron  ring  on  it,  and  a  thick 
iron  bolt  was  shut  into  a  socket.  There  was  one  door 
to  the  room,  and,  hurrying  to  it,  Tom  found  that  it 
was  fastened  on  the  outside. 

So  far  all  was  well.  He  softly  summoned  Abdul 
to  descend.  Then,  drawing  back  the  bolt  and  lifting 
the  slab,  he  discovered  a  large  opening  leading  to  a 
spiral  stone  stairway. 

Again  he  hesitated.  What  lay  below?  The  disap- 
pointment of  finding  the  guest-chamber  empty,  the 
prolongation  of  the  search,  were  beginning  to  tell 
upon  him.  But,  crushing  down  his  nervous  excite- 
ment, he  extinguished  his  torch  again,  and  groped  his 
way  round  and  round  until  he  came  once  more  to 
level  ground.  All  was  still  as  death.  A  flash  of  the 
torch  showed  him  that  he  was  in  a  large  vaulted  cor- 

135 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

ridor,    paved    with   brick.      Somewhere    in   this,    he 
doubted  not,  was  the  door  into  the  dungeons. 

In  order  to  secure  his  line  of  retreat  in  case  of 
emergency,  he  felt  it  was  absolutely  necessary  first 
to  secure  the  other  entrance,  wherever  it  might  be, 
that  was  ordinarily  used  by  the  jailer.  He  soon  dis- 
covered it  by  the  aid  of  his  torch.  Here,  as  he  feared, 
the  bolts  were  on  the  outside,  and  the  door  was  se- 
curely fastened.  Was  it  possible  to  barricade  the 
door  from  the  inside?  The  whole  place  was  empty 
with  the  exception  of  a  number  of  manacles  and  like 
effects,  and  a  long  hammer,  which  Abdul  said,  in  a 
whisper,  was  used  by  the  Moorish  jailers  in  fastening 
the  chains  round  their  victims'  ankles.  But  there  was 
nothing  that  promised  to  be  of  service  as  a  barricade. 

At  any  moment  the  jailer,  if  he  had  not  taken  panic 
from  the  discharge  of  the  sentry's  musket,  might  en- 
ter to  assure  himself  of  the  security  of  his  prisoners. 
Could  anything  be  done  to  delay  him  ?  For  Tom  felt 
that  it  was  not  only  a  question  of  the  jailer,  but  of 
others  who  would  no  doubt  hasten  to  his  assistance. 

Flashing  his  torch  round,  Tom  noticed  that  the  floor- 
ing had  been  worn  and  chipped  away,  no  doubt  in 
the  process  of  manacling,  and  scattered  about  there 
was  a  large  quantity  of  loose  particles  of  brick.  An 
idea  struck  him.  He  collected  a  big  handful  of  these 
fragments  and  pushed  them  into  the  keyhole.  Then, 
leaving  Abdul  to  complete  the  work,  which  would,  he 
hoped,  cause  the  lock  to  stick,  he  hastened  down  the 
vaulted  passage. 

136 


CHAPTER    XI 

PRISON  BREAKERS 

Tom  found  himself  in  a  long  broad  alleyway,  flanked 
by  arches.  There  was  no  sign  of  the  dungeons,  ap- 
parently no  means  of  exit.  The  air  was  damp  and 
heavy,  and  the  first  indication  that  he  was  approaching 
the  neighborhood  of  the  dungeons  was  afforded  by 
his  nose.  Coming  at  length  to  a  narrow  flight  of 
steps  leading  downwards,  the  fact  that  he  was  near- 
ing  the  object  of  his  quest  was  borne  in  upon  his  sense 
with  ever-increasing  pungency. 

"  Surely,"  he  thought,  "  the  sheik  is  not  such  a 
beast  as  to  herd  Ingleton  with  the  ordinary  crim- 
inals!" 

Another  alleyway,  apparently  underneath  the  one 
from  which  he  had  come,  was  disclosed  by  his  electric 
torch  when  he  reached  the  bottom  of  the  staircase; 
but  in  this  case  there  were  doors  at  his  right,  and  in 
the  thickness  of  the  wall,  Moorish  fashion,  little 
peep-holes,  through  which  no  doubt  the  warder  could 
spy  upon  the  movements  of  the  captives  within. 

Which  was  the  door  leading  to  the  place  of  the 
envoy's  confinement?  Tom  wondered.  Was  he  in- 
deed imprisoned  here  at  all?  Tom  gave  no  thought 
to  the  predicament  in  which  Abdul  and  he  would  be 

137 


placed  if  it  should  prove  that  they  had  gone  astray; 
his  whole  mind  was  centered  on  the  plight  of  the  Eng- 
lish prisoner  and  the  terrible  misfortune  it  would  be 
if  he  were  elsewhere;  and  deep  within  him  burned  a 
fierce  indignation  that  any  countryman  of  his  should 
be  even  within  hailing  distance  of  so  noisome  a  place 
as  this  kasbah  dungeon. 

So  anxious  was  he  to  know  whether  he  was  on  the 
right  track  that,  scarcely  giving  a  thought  to  possible 
consequences,  he  lifted  up  his  voice  and  shouted  the 
name  of  the  man  for  whom  he  was  seeking.  The  loud 
tones  went  rolling  beneath  the  arches,  answered  by  a 
hundred  echoes.  But  there  was  a  nearer  and  more 
material  answer.  By  the  light  of  his  torch,  which 
he  kept  constantly  in  use,  Tom  saw  a  big,  bearded, 
spectacled  face  appear  at  the  aperture  nearest  to  him 
on  the  right. 

"Ach!  Gott  in  Himmel!  Vas  zat  English 
voice?" 

Tom  himself  was  in  shadow,  but  his  light  fell  full 
on  the  face  of  the  speaker,  and  with  a  gasp  of  amaze- 
ment he  recognized  Herr  Hildebrand  Schwab,  the 
representative  of  the  Schlagintwerts,  who  had  called 
on  him  at  Midfont  months  before  and  showed  such  a 
consuming  curiosity  to  know  the  use  to  which  he  put 
the  Photographic  Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six. 
And  with  a  sudden  flash  of  recollection  he  remembered 
that  Schwab  had  spoken  of  proceeding  to  Morocco  on 
business.  Coming  out  from  beneath  the  arch  in  which 
he  stood,  and  holding  his  torch  before  him,  he  ap- 

138 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

preached  the  aperture.  His  appearance  was  hailed 
by  a  groan.  Schwab  did  not  recognize  him  in  his 
Moorish  dress.  Deeply  he  groaned  again,  muttering: 

"  Ach,  ich  Ungliiklicher!  " 

His  face,  utterly  woebegone  in  expression,  was  just 
disappearing  within  the  cell  when  Tom,  almost  fran- 
tic with  despair  at  the  thought  that  the  white  prisoner 
was  not  the  man  he  had  come  to  seek  after  all,  shouted 
again : 

"  Ingleton !  Sir  Mark  Ingleton !  Are  you  there  ?  " 

Schwab's  face  reappeared  instantly.  It  was  aglow 
with  excitement  and  hope. 

"  Gott  sei  Dank!  Ingleton!  iYou  zay  Ingleton! 
Zough  ze  dress  be  Mohr,  ze  voice  is  English.  You 
are  indeed  English?  Answer  me  for  ze  love  of  ze 
heavens ! " 

"Yes,  I  am  English,"  cried  Tom  impatiently;  "I 
want  Sir  Mark  Ingleton." 

"  He  is  here,  vizin,  inside,  viz  me,  Hildebrand 
Schwab.  Let  me  out  double  quick;  I  stifle,  I  suffo- 
cate, I  do  not  breaze.  Gott  sei  Dank!" 

"  He  is  there?  Where  is  he?  Tell  him  I  want  to 
speak  to  him  —  an  Englishman." 

"  He  sleep  sound,  he  is  indispose;  but  I  am  ze  vorst. 
I  am  here  ze  longest.  Open  ze  door,  please,  be  good 
enough,  have  ze  kindness — " 

Without  more  ado,  Tom  drew  back  the  bolts  with 
a  bang  and  pulled  at  the  door.  It  was  locked. 
Schwab  groaned  again;  but  Tom,  handing  his  torch 
to  Abdul,  who  was  pale  with  apprehension,  called 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

to  Schwab  to  stand  away  from  the  door,  and  blew 
the  lock  in  with  a  shot  from  his  revolver.  He  flung 
open  the  door,  and  burst  into  the  cell.  The  shot  had 
awakened  the  envoy,  who  looked  up  in  a  dazed  fashion, 
and  asked,  in  the  low  voice  of  a  man  thoroughly  tired, 
what  the  disturbance  was  about. 

"  God  be  praise,  we  are  save !  Do  not  notice  de 
dress;  it  is  nozink;  ze  man  is  English.  Ach!  it  is  no 
good;  ze  door  is  open,  but  ve  are  in  chains.  Ach! 
Zum  Teufel !  It  is  caput  —  all  up !  " 

Tom  pushed  past  him  impatiently. 

"  Quick,  Abdul,"  he  said,  "  the  hammer !  " 

Hastening  to  Sir  Mark,  who  had  risen  from  the 
floor,  with  half  a  dozen  sturdy  blows  Tom  snapped 
the  chains  that  fixed  his  ankle-bands  to  staples  in  the 
wall,  then  performed  a  like  service  for  Schwab. 
He  made  no  attempt  to  release  their  ankles  from  the 
fetters:  there  was  no  time  for  this,  and  he  feared 
also  to  do  them  an  injury.  The  sounds  had  caused 
commotion  in  the  farther  dungeon,  where  the  sheik's 
other  prisoners  were  confined.  Chains  were  clanking, 
men  were  shouting,  the  uproar  was  so  great  that  it 
must  reach  the  ears  of  the  jailer  if  he  were  anywhere 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  though  he  was  shut  off  from 
the  vaults,  he  might  burst  the  locks  and  bring  a  host 
of  armed  men  to  the  rescue. 

"  We  have  no  time  to  lose,"  said  Tom.  "  Come 
with  me." 

"  But,  pardon  me  -  "  said  Sir  Mark. 

"  I  can't  explain  now,"  Tom  interrupted.  "  Come 
140 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

along;  it  is  all  right,  only  we  must  get  away  at  once." 

"  At  vunce,  Sir-  Ingleton,"  said  Schwab.  "  You 
hear  zat !  For  ze  sake  of  anyzink,  be  a  man !  " 

"  My  good  sir  — "  began  Sir  Mark :  but  Tom 
again  cut  him  short. 

"  Can  you  walk  ?  "  he  asked,  noticing  that  the  Eng- 
lishman tottered  as  he  stood. 

"  With  assistance,  perhaps." 

At  once  Tom  caught  him  by  an  arm,  bidding  Abdul 
take  the  other.  Supporting  him,  they  led  him  along 
the  passage,  up  the  stairway  to  the  upper  corridor, 
Schwab  panting  and  ejaculating  behind  them.  Even 
before  they  reached  the  corridor  they  heard  a  tre- 
mendous battering  at  the  door  whose  lock  had  been 
rilled  with  fragments  of  brick. 

It  was  so  stout  a  barrier  that  Tom  had  no  fear  that 
it  would  be  broken  down  by  anything  short  of  a  bat- 
tering-ram, and  it  was  not  likely  that  the  Moors  had 
at  hand  an  instrument  ready  for  this  purpose.  His 
confidence  was,  however,  soon  shaken,  for,  before  the 
party,  encumbered  with  the  enfeebled  envoy,  had  be- 
gun to  ascend  the  winding  stairway  leading  from  the 
arched  corridor  to  the  vestibule  above,  there  was  the 
sound  of  a  very  heavy  body  striking  the  door,  fol- 
lowed by  an  ominous  creak.  Leaving  the  others  to 
precede  him,  Tom  stationed  himself  on  the  narrow 
stair,  the  hammer  in  one  hand,  his  revolver  in  the 
other.  He  was  determined  not  to  use  the  revolver 
except  in  the  last  extremity,  but  he  had  no  such  com- 
punctions about  using  the  hammer, 

141 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Suddenly  in  the  midst  of  the  crashing  blows  upon 
the  door  there  was  the  report  of  a  rifle.  The  Moors 
were  adopting  his  own  device  of  blowing  in  the  lock. 
The  door  gave  way,  and  by  the  flash  of  his  torch, 
Tom  saw  a  crowd  of  swarthy  Riffians  swarming 
through  the  opening.  The  door  at  the  foot  of  the 
winding  stair  leading  to  the  corridor  was  somewhat 
ruinous;  it  was  apparently  seldom  used,  the  sheik  de- 
pending for  his  security  upon  the  heavy  trap-door 
above.  Tom,  however,  succeeded  in  pulling  it  to  be- 
fore the  Moors  were  upon  him,  and  shot  the  single 
crazy  bolt  that  still  held.  Then  he  darted  up  the 
stairs  after  the  rest.  They  were  just  lifting  the  en- 
voy through  the  trap.  Schwab  was  awaiting  his  turn, 
and  when  he  heard  Tom  rushing  up,  he  sprang 
through  the  opening  with  extraordinary  agility.  The 
trap-door  was  let  down  and  bolted ;  they  hastened  up 
the  stairway  to  the  upper  vestibule  adjoining  the  guest- 
chamber,  thence  up  to  the  sheik's  quarters  on  the  floor 
above,  bolting  every  door  behind  them. 

Even  through  the  thick  walls  of  the  kasbah  they  had 
heard  sounds  of  great  excitement  in  the  town.  Evi- 
dently the  whole  place  was  now  alive.  And  there  was 
danger  to  be  anticipated  within,  for  as  they  groped 
their  way  up  the  last  flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the 
roof,  their  steps  momentarily  guided  by  the  flashes  of 
Tom's  torches,  the  sounds  of  a  tremendous  battering 
near  at  hand  struck  upon  their  ears.  Evidently  the 
sheik  himself  was  now  trying  to  make  his  way  out. 
They  hastened  their  steps  as  much  as  Sir  Mark's  en- 

142 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

feebled  state  permitted;  Tom  indeed  was  in  such  des- 
perate anxiety,  for  pursuit  could  not  be  long  delayed, 
that  he  forced  the  pace  in  a  way  that  drew  a  protest 
from  the  Englishman  —  even  in  this  extremity  a  di- 
plomatist. 

They  came  to  the  last  flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the 
roof. 

"  Is  that  you,  Dorrell  ?  "  came  the  voice  of  Oliphant 
from  above.  Nervously  restless,  first  on  account  of 
Tom's  long  absence,  and  then  at  the  violent  sounds 
within  and  without  the  building,  he  had  left  the  airship 
and  stationed  himself  with  his  revolver  at  the  top  of 
the  staircase  leading  to  the  roof,  to  cover  Tom's  re- 
treat if  he  proved  to  be  hard  pressed. 

"  All  well !  "  shouted  Tom  in  reply. 

In  another  minute  all  four  emerged  upon  the  roof, 
and  Oliphant  gave  a  whistle  of  amazement  and  con- 
sternation when  he  saw  an  unexpected  addition  to  the 
party. 

"  Two  of  them?  "  he  ejaculated. 

"Yes;  the  sheik  had  a  German  gentleman  — " 

"  Hildebrand  Schwab,  representative  of  ze  excellent 
firma  of  Schlagintwert  and  —  " 

"  Hang  it,  we  can't  stop  for  introductions  now," 
said  Tom ;  "  Abdul,  run  down  to  the  door  of  the 
sheik's  room  and  persuade  him  that  he  risks  his  life 
if  he  comes  out.  We  shall  want  a  minute  or  two  to 
get  ready." 

The  Moor  obeyed,  not  without  a  look  of  nervous- 
ness. At  first  he  could  scarcely  make  his  voice  heard 

i43 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

above  the  uproar  within  the  sheik's  room;  but  suc- 
ceeding at  last,  he  began  a  conversation  which  might 
have  shocked  and  would  certainly  have  amused  Tom 
if  he  could  have  understood  it. 

"  Is  the  most  excellent  lord  the  sheik  within  ? " 
shouted  Abdul  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 

The  noise  ceased. 

"  Certainly  he  is,  thou  misbegotten  son  of  a  pig !  " 
said  the  frenzied  sheik.  "  Open  this  door,  or  by  the 
beard  of  the  Prophet  I  will  flay  thee  alive,  thou  rat !  " 

"  Peace,  O  sheik!  Dost  thou  value  thy  life  so  little, 
foolish  one  ?  "  Abdul  was  gaining  courage ;  his  enemy 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  door.  "  Peace,  thou 
kaffir;  I  spit  upon  thee.  Dost  thou  think  to  pass 
through  till  it  be  the  good  pleasure  of  those  who  have 
captured  thy  kasbah  to  permit  thee?  Know  it  is  I, 
Abdul  ben  Cassim,  and  verily  I  and  the  good  men 
with  me  will  cut  thee  in  pieces,  first  plucking  out  one 
by  one  the  hairs  of  thy  beard,  if  thou  showest  thy  pig's 
snout  beyond  this  door." 

This  seemed  to  stagger  the  sheik,  for  his  next  words 
were  uttered  in  a  milder  tone. 

"  What  is  thy  purpose,  O  Abdul?  " 

"  Know,  thou  dog  of  a  dog,  that  a  great  sultan,  the 
King  of  England,  hath  sent  his  most  trusty  wazeer  to 
wrest  from  thee  his  servant,  whom  thou  didst  treacher- 
ously seize  and  shut  in  thy  stinking  dungeon.  There 
now  lies  at  this  very  door  a  monstrous  bomb  which 
will  go  off  —  Allah  is  great !  —  the  instant  this  door 
is  opened,  Dost  thou  believe,  dog  ?  Verily  thou  wilt 

144 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

be  shattered  into  as  many  pieces  as  there  are  lies  in  thy 
heart  if  thou  dost  but  move  the  door  the  tenth  part  of 
an  inch.  But  the  King  of  England  is  merciful;  he 
will  not  do  you  or  your  folk  harm:  he  knows  other 
ways  of  avenging  the  injury  his  servant  has  suffered 
at  thy  hands.  Verily  thou  art  in  bad  case,  thou  two- 
faced  dog!  Before  the  growing  of  a  finger-nail  thou 
wilt  be  haled  to  Marrakesh,  and  then  thou  wilt  suffer 
the  pangs  of  Tophet." 

And  Abdul  went  on  to  revile  the  sheik  in  terms  that 
can  not  be  rendered  in  our  modest  English.  His  in- 
ventiveness was  very  creditable  to  his  presence  of 
mind,  for  though  the  noise  in  the  sheik's  apartments 
had  ceased,  the  uproar  below  was  growing  moment 
by  moment  in  intensity.  The  great  gate  had  been 
thrown  open,  the  patio  was  thronged  with  fierce  Moors 
enraged  at  the  indignity  put  upon  their  chief,  and  it 
was  scarcely  possible  that  the  doors  below,  stout  as 
they  were,  could  long  withstand  the  furious  blows 
with  which  they  were  assailed. 

Meanwhile  Tom  had  assured  himself  that  his  ma- 
chinery was  in  order.  Sir  Mark  had  already  entered 
the  car.  Tom  was  beside  him,  ready  to  start  the  pro- 
pellers; Schwab  was  esconced  in  the  corner  farthest 
from  danger. 

"  Call  Abdul,  Oliphant,"  said  Tom. 

Oliphant  went  to  the  head  of  the  stairs  and  called; 
Abdul  came  bounding  up,  and  in  half  a  minute  all  five 
were  packed  into  the  car.  It  was  a  very  tight  fit,  and 
Tom  felt  a  tremor  of  apprehension  as  he  pressed  the 

J45 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

lever.  The  vertical  propellers  answered  instantly  to 
his  touch,  but  they  beat  the  air  ineffectually:  the  air- 
ship absolutely  refused  to  rise. 

"It  won't  lift  us!"  he  said,  aghast.  "We're  too 
heavy.  Some  one  must  be  left  behind." 

"  I'll  stay,"  said  Oliphant  at  once.  "  Take  the 
others  to  the  hill  and  come  back  for  me.  I  can  man- 
age for  half  an  hour  or  so  with  my  revolver." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  I  want  your  help  with  the  ma- 
chinery. What  on  earth  can  we  do  ?  " 

"Leave  Abdul?" 

"  Can't  hear  of  it :  he  couldn't  defend  himself  long, 
and  he'd  be  frightfully  tortured  if  they  got  him.  We 
can't  all  get  away  at  once,  that's  certain;  and,  as  we 
certainly  can't  leave  Sir  Mark,  we  must  leave  the  one 
we  didn't  reckon  on.  Herr  Schwab — " 

"No.     I  refuse.     I  vill  not  stay.     I  am  here." 

"  I'm  afraid  you  must.  We  shan't  be  long,  I'll  drop 
the  others  a  mile  or  two  away,  and  come  back  for  you 
at  once." 

"  Never  in  ze  vorld.  I  protest.  I  am  Jarman  sob- 
jeck:  is  not  ze  life  of  Jarman  sobjeck  of  more  vorth 
zan  ze  life  of  a  Mohr?  Our  Kaiser,  who  is  in  Ber- 
lin—" 

"  We  can't  stop  to  argue  it.  They  won't  kill  you, 
at  any  rate;  they  know  enough  of  your  Kaiser  per- 
haps to  refrain  from  that:  whereas  they'd  kill  the 
Moor  to  a  certainty.  We  can't  all  lose  our  lives  for 
you.  In  short,  you  must  get  out,  and  be  quick  about 
it,  or,  by  Jove !  we'll  have  to  throw  you  out." 

146 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

"  It  is  terrible ;  it  is  unkind.  I  can  not  stay  alone ; 
no  longer  am  I  as  I  vas;  I  lose  pounds  in  ze  prison. 
I  am  not  made  for  zis.  Some  vun  muss  remain  viz 
me ;  I  care  not  who :  some  vun  to  give  me  courage." 

Here  Abdul  stepped  into  the  breach  and  volunteered 
to  stay  with  the  German. 

"  I  have  it !  "  cried  Oliphant.  "  The  trap-door  that 
covers  the  opening  is  at  the  other  end  of  the  roof,  by 
the  parapet  there.  We  can  shut  that  down  and  bolt 
it.  And,  by  George!  the  stones  of  the  parapet  are 
pretty  loose.  Abdul  and  Mr.  Schwab  can  pile  some 
of  them  on  the  trap;  we'll  leave  them  our  revolvers, 
and  with  a  little  pluck  they  can  keep  the  blackguards 
at  bay  until  we  get  back." 

"  That's  it.  You'll  be  as  safe  as  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land, Mr.  Schwab.  Quick!  Out  with  you!  Here's 
my  revolver ! " 

"  Ach !  I  am  man  of  peace ;  vunce  I  vas  var  gor- 
resbondent,  and  —  " 

"  For  goodness'  sake,  get  out,  man !  Don't  you  see 
you're  endangering  the  whole  lot  of  us,  yourself  in- 
cluded ?  Oliphant,  we  shall  have  to  fling  him  out." 

But  at  this  threat  Schwab  rose  and  stepped  on  to 
the  roof,  his  face  a  very  picture  of  woe.  Oliphant 
assisted  Abdul  to  place  the  trap-door  over  the  opening, 
and  of  course  made  the  discovery  that  the  bolts  were 
on  the  inside. 

"  But  the  stones  will  do,"  said  Oliphant.  "  Buck 
up,  Mr.  Schwab;  you're  not  absolutely  helpless,  are 
you?" 

147 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  It  is  true,  I  have  carried  stones,  but  zey  vere 
small,"  said  Schwab  lugubriously,  remembering  the 
means  by  which  he  had  mounted  the  fence  at  Midfont 
in  pursuit  of  business.  Leaving  him  to  it,  Oliphant 
got  back  into  the  car.  Tom  pressed  the  lever,  and 
the  airship,  relieved  of  near  two  hundredweight  of 
German  subject  and  the  lesser  bulk  of  the  Moor, 
soared  into  the  air.  Tom's  last  view,  as  the  vessel 
rose  clear  of  the  kasbah,  was  Schwab  limping  across 
the  roof  under  the  burden  of  a  large  stone  from  the 
coping. 

"  A  most  singular  proceeding ! "  murmured  Sir 
Mark,  as  the  airship  whirred  over  the  hills.  "  I  won- 
der how  I  stand  —  diplomatically  considered.  The 
vessel  goes  with  consummate  ease.  There  is  positively 
no  roll  —  nothing  to  cause  seasickness." 

Tom  laughed.  The  matter-of-fact  at  this  moment 
was  very  refreshing. 

"I  hope  you  will  redeem  your  promise  to  rescue 
Mr.  Schwab,"  the  envoy  continued.  "  He  has  been  a 
great  joy  to  me  in  my  captivity." 

"  Oh,  yes,  we'll  get  him.  We  shall  drop  you  in  a 
few  minutes.  You  will  not  mind  being  left  for  a 
little  while?" 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all.  I  find  the  air  and  the  motion 
most  invigorating.  I  have  lately  been  very  conscious 
of  the  inconvenience  of  having  a  nose." 

Tom  did  not  know,  though  Oliphant  suspected,  that 
Sir  Mark's  cool  manner  was  adopted  intentionally — • 
to  ease  the  strain  on  their  nerves.  A  man  is  not 

148 


PRISON  BREAKERS 

trained  to  diplomacy  for  nothing.  He  kept  up  a  quiet 
flow  of  nothings  until  the  hill  was  reached. 

"  A  very  airy  situation,"  he  remarked,  as  he  was 
set  down  on  the  hilltop. 

"Yes.  You'll  find  it  cold,"  said  Tom.  "Here's 
my  coat." 

"  Thanks.  Having  escaped  asphyxia,  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  a  pity  to  contract  pneumonia.  You  look 
quite  comfortable  yourself:  the  Moorish  djellab  is  a 
very  warm  garment,  I  should  think." 

He  put  on  Tom's  reefer,  which  had  lain  in  a  corner 
of  the  car.  Then  Tom  sent  the  airship  aloft  again, 
and  hurried  back  to  the  kasbah. 


149 


CHAPTER  XII 

A  HITCH 

Short  as  the  time  seemed,  it  was  in  reality  nearly  an 
hour  before  the  airship  once  more  rested  on  the  roof 
of  the  kasbah.  While  it  was  still  hovering  above, 
Tom  maneuvering  for  a  landing,  there  came  the  muf- 
fled sound  of  shots  and  the  rending  of  wood. 

"  They've  broken  in,"  cried  Oliphant. 

The  Moors  had  indeed  burst  through  the  lower 
doors,  released  the  infuriated  sheik,  and,  finding  them- 
selves unable  to  lift  the  trap-door,  were  firing  upward 
through  it.  Schwab,  who  had  been  sitting  on  the  pile 
of  stones  which  he  and  Abdul  had  heaped  on  the  cover- 
ing, to  reinforce  their  weight  with  his  own,  slipped  off 
with  amazing  alacrity  just  as  the  airship  came  to  rest. 

" Gott  sei  Dank!"  he  exclaimed,  as  Tom  joined 
him. 

He  needed  no  invitation  to  hurry  into  the  car.  As 
soon  as  Abdul  was  aboard  Tom  started  the  engines. 
To  his  consternation  the  airship  again  refused  to  rise. 

"  Good  heavens !  what  a  weight  you  must  be !  "  he 
exclaimed. 

"  Colossal !    But  I  lose  pounds  in  ze  —  " 

"  Oh,  shut  up!  "  cried  Oliphant  impatiently.  "  We 
can't  make  another  journey,  Dorrell.  The  cover 

150 


A  HITCH 

won't  support  the  stones  much  longer  with  those  Rif- 
fians  smashing  the  wood  as  they're  doing." 

He  had  scarcely  spoken  when  the  woodwork  gave 
way,  the  stones  crashed  down  the  staircase,  and  there 
were  cries  of  pain  and  alarm  from  the  men  beneath. 
But  it  was  impossible  to  suppose  that  they  were  all 
hurt,  and  the  passage  was  now  clear  for  the  rest. 
Something  must  be  done  at  once  to  gain  a  little  time 
until  the  problem  of  removing  Schwab's  colossal 
weight  could  be  solved. 

Stopping  his  engines,  which  were  working  furiously, 
but  with  no  effect,  Tom,  followed  by  Oliphant  and  the 
Moor,  jumped  from  the  car  and  hurried  toward  the 
opening.  They  were  greeted  by  a  musket  shot;  but 
Tom,  seizing  a  big  stone,  threw  it  with  all  his  force 
into  the  black  room  beneath.  There  were  more  cries 
from  below,  repeated  when  Oliphant  and  the  Moor 
followed  suit,  each  with  missiles  of  the  same  character. 
Then  there  was  silence  for  a  time.  The  Moors  were 
apparently  nonplussed. 

"  You  can  find  your  way  to  the  hill  if  I  land  you  be- 
low ?  "  asked  Tom  of  Abdul. 

"  Yes,  master." 

"  Hold  the  roof,  Oliphant.  I  won't  be  ten  minutes. 
Don't  shoot  'em  unless  you're  very  hard  pressed." 

Tom  and  the  Moor  sprang  into  the  car,  the  airship 
again  ascended,  and  came  down  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  village  walls.  There  was  nobody  in 
sight ;  without  doubt  the  whole  population  of  the  place 
was  congregated  about  the  kasbah.  Once  more  Tom 

151 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

ascended,  alighting  on  the  roof  just  as  Oliphant,  using 
the  wooden  shaft  of  Abdul's  hammer,  was  driving  back 
one  man,  more  venturesome  than  the  rest,  who  had  at- 
tempted to  make  his  way  up.  There  was  no  time  to 
carry  more  stones  from  the  coping  to  serve  as  mis- 
siles, so  Tom  and  Oliphant  at  last  fired  their  revolvers, 
two  shots  each,  taking  care,  however  to  avoid  the  open- 
ing. Tom  hoped  that  the  sound  of  the  shots  would 
give  pause  to  the  men  below,  most  of  whom  must  have 
hitherto  been  unaware  that  the  intruders  carried  fire- 
arms. 

Immediately  after  they  had  fired,  the  two  made  a 
dash  for  the  car,  scrambled  aboard,  and  set  the  engines 
in  motion. 

" Gott  sei  Dank!"  cried  Schwab  again,  as  the  air- 
ship rose  steadily  above  the  roof. 

As  if  they  had  known  by  some  intuition  what  was 
happening,  the  Moors  at  this  moment  made  a  rush, 
and  before  the  airship  had  sailed  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  kasbah,  figures  appeared  on  the  roof.  A 
moment  afterward  one  or  two  shots  were  fired,  but 
they  were  without  effect;  the  airship  sailed  on,  pur- 
sued by  yells  of  baffled  rage. 

In  order  to  draw  away  pursuit  from  his  real  direc- 
tion, Tom  headed  the  airship  northeast,  and  it  was  not 
until  he  was  well  out  of  sight  of  the  kasbah  that  he 
put  the  helm  up  and  steered  straight  for  the  hilltop. 

"  We've  come  out  of  this  uncommonly  well,"  said 
Oliphant.  "  I  was  on  thorns  all  the  time  you  and 
Abdul  were  absent." 

152 


A  HITCH 

"  We're  not  out  of  it  yet,"  rejoined  Tom.  "  The 
fuel's  nearly  done.  These  comings  and  goings  have 
used  a  terrible  lot  of  the  paste,  and  I  doubt  whether 
there's  enough  to  make  one  journey  to  the  yacht  — 
let  alone  two.  I  didn't  reckon  on  another  passenger 
besides  Ingleton." 

"Who  is  this  freak?  You  seem  to  know  him." 
Oliphant  spoke  quietly.  Herr  Schwab  was  lying 
against  the  rail  of  the  car  only  a  few  feet  away. 

"  Met  him  once.  His  name's  Schwab ;  he's  an 
agent  for  the  company  I  get  my  powder  from. 
Haven't  had  time  yet  to  ask  him  how  he  got  into  this 
mess.  I  say,  it  looks  as  if  a  storm  is  coming  up." 

"  Yes,  the  wind's  rising,  and  the  clouds  are  scudding 
along  at  a  great  pace.  How  will  she  behave  in  a 
storm?" 

"Don't  know,  and  'don't  want  to  know  just  now. 
We  should  be  in  a  pretty  hobble  if  the  machine  were 
to  get  smashed  up  altogether." 

While  Tom  and  Oliphant  were  thus  talking  in  low 
tones,  Herr  Schwab  was  deeply  ruminating.  He  had 
been  struck,  on  the  roof  of  the  kasbah,  by  something 
familiar  in  the  speech  of  this  Englishman  who  was 
masquerading  as  a  Moor,  but  in  the  agitation  of  the 
moment  he  could  not  sift  his  recollections.  Now, 
however,  safe  in  the  car  of  an  aeroplane,  sailing  with 
almost  imperceptible  motion  through  the  air,  he  was 
taking  the  opportunity  to  search  his  memory.  Just 
as  the  airship  arrived  above  the  hilltop  where  Sir  Mark 
Ingleton  was  waiting,  and  Tom  was  preparing  to  de- 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

scend,  he  was  startled  by  a  loud  exclamation  from  the 
German. 

"  What's  the  matter?  "  he  asked. 

"  Nozink,  nozink  at  all.  I  know  you  vat  you  are. 
Mr.  Thomas  Dorrell!  And  ze  Photographic  Sensi- 
tizer  Preparation  Number  Six.  I  know  all  about  him ; 
ja  wohl!  Zere  are  business  for  Schlagintwert:  I 
do  not  mind  ze  captivities  now :  business  are  business. 

Oliphant  looked  inquiringly  at  Tom;  but  the 
moment  was  not  propitious  for  explanations.  Tom's 
whole  attention  was  engaged  by  the  machinery.  The 
airship  alighted  without  mishap,  and  Tom  as  he 
stepped  out  of  the  car  was  greeted  by  Sir  Mark  Ingle- 
ton. 

"  I  have  a  new  conception  of  the  music  of  the 
spheres,"  he  said.  "  Your  approach  was  heralded  by 
an  immense  humming,  which,  I  take  it,  will  discount 
the  usefulness  of  the  airship  in  time  of  war." 

"  Zat  vill  be  chance  for  Schlagintwert,"  interposed 
Schwab;  "to  invent  somezink  vat  stop  ze  row." 

"  Precisely,"  said  Sir  Mark,  with  a  faint  smile. 

"  How  do  you  feel  now,  sir  ?  "  asked  Tom. 

"  Greatly  invigorated  by  the  fresh  air.  I  am  glad 
of  your  coat.  May  I  know  to  whom  I  am  indebted 
for  this  surprising  change  in  my  fortunes  ?  " 

"  My  name's  Dorrell,"  said  Tom.  "  I  happened  to 
be  rather  lucky  in  getting  my  airship  to  go  just  when 
it  could  be  made  useful." 

"  Viz  Schlagintwert's  Photographic  Sensitizer  Prep- 
aration Number  Six,"  added  Schwab. 

J  54 


A  HITCH 

"  This  is  Mr.  Oliphant,  Lord  L'angside's  son,"  Tom 
went  on. 

"  Indeed !  "  With  fine  courtesy  Sir  Mark  perfectly 
concealed  his  amazement.  Oliphant  still  wore  his 
stoker's  clothes,  and  the  black  smudges  on  his  face  had 
given  him  a  striking  resemblance  to  a  coal-heaver. 
"  I  am  grateful  to  the  Prime  Minister  for  this  novel 
and  adventurous  expedition,"  added  the  envoy. 

"  My  father  knows  nothing  about  it,  sir,"  said 
Oliphant.  "  We  were  afraid  he  wouldn't  allow  it  if 
we  told  him." 

"  I  see.  Nothing  succeeds  like  success.  Did  you 
come  all  the  way  from  England  in  this  admirable 
machine?  " 

"  No,  sir.  We  were  brought  out  on  Mr.  Greatorex's 
yacht,  which  is  now  waiting  for  us  at  the  shore." 

"  That  is  good  news,  for  in  truth,  seeing  the  limited 
carrying  capacity  of  your  airship,  I  had  wondered 
how  we  were  all  to  get  away." 

"  That's  our  difficulty,  sir.  Our  fuel  is  almost  gone, 
and  I'm  very  much  afraid  there  isn't  enough  left  to 
make  even  one  journey  back  to  the  yacht.  There's 
plenty  on  board,  if  we  can  manage  to  reach  it." 

"  In  that  case  perhaps  you  and  Mr.  Oliphant  had 
better  return  without  us.  If  you  reach  the  yacht 
safely,  you  can  come  back  and  fetch  us ;  if  you  do  not 
—  well,  things  will  be  no  worse  than  they  were." 

"  I  don't  care  about  doing  that,  sir.  We  came  out 
to  rescue  you.  I  think  you  had  better  come  with  us. 
Our  fuel  may  last  out ;  the  sooner  you  are  safe  aboard 

155 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

the  yacht  the  better;  and  if  we  only  get  within  sight 
of  her  it  will  be  all  right,  for  Mr.  Greatorex  will  cer- 
tainly send  a  boat's  crew  to  fetch  us  off." 

"  Had  you  not  better  take  Mr.  Schwab  first.  He 
has  been  in  captivity  longer  than  I." 

"  And  I  have  vair  important  business,"  said  Schwab 
eagerly. 

"  I  think  my  arrangement  is  best,  sir.  You  see, 
your  position  is  a  matter  of  state  importance  —  inter- 
national importance,  I  might  say;  all  Europe  is  more 
or  less  interested  in  your  fate,  whereas — " 

"  Ach !  "  interrupted  Schwab,  "  zey  insult  me,  ze 
Mohrs;  me,  a  Jarman  sobjeck;  zerefore  zey  insult  also 
our  Kaiser,  who  is  in  Berlin.  Zat  is  important." 

"With  all  respect  to  your  Kaiser,  Mr.  Schwab," 
said  Tom,  "  we  are  three  to  one  here,  and  I  think  the 
interests  of  the  majority  must  prevail." 

"  But  ze  population  of  Jarmany  is  grosser  zan  ze 
population  of  Great  Britain.  Ve  grow  vair  fast." 

"Therefore  your  Kaiser  can  spare  one  individual 
better  than  our  King.  We  must  settle  it  so,  Mr. 
Schwab.  We'll  take  Sir  Mark  to  the  yacht  and  then 
come  back  for  you  —  as  we  have  already  done." 

"  But  if  you  forget  —  vere  am  I  zen  ?  Mr.  Great- 
orex is  business  man,  perhaps  he  vant  to  make  haste 
for  home.  Besides,  you  try  to  keep  ze  secret  of  ze 
Photographic  Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six.  I 
discover  ze  secret.  You  vant  to  keep  me  out,  so  zat  I 
shall  not  take  out  patent  for  Schlagintwert.  Zat  is 
business ! " 

JS6 


A  HITCH 

"  You  may  take  my  word  for  it  that  we'll  come  back" 
for  you,"  said  Tom  patiently.  Oliphant  was  fuming; 
Sir  Mark  Ingleton  was  quietly  enjoying  the  situation. 
"And  here's  Abdul."  The  young  Moor  at  this  mo- 
ment came  over  the  brow  of  the  hill.  "  Perhaps  he 
will  stay  and  keep  you  company." 

"  I  have  enough  gombany  of  ze  Mohrs,"  said 
Schwab  dismally.  "  Give  notice,  I  shall  have  big  claim 
for  damage.  Ze  loss  of  business  is  colossal." 

"  You'll  make  it  up  when  you  put  your  Photo- 
raphic  Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six  on  the 
market  under  a  new  name.  Abdul,  you  will  stay  with 
Mr.  Schwab  until  we  get  back  ?  " 

Abdul  agreed  at  once.  In  the  event  of  a  party 
coming  from  Ain  Afroo  to  capture  him  he  could  re- 
treat to  the  caves,  which  were  so  difficult  of  access 
that  he  might  hope  to  defy  attack  for  a  time,  even  if 
his  hiding-place  were  discovered.  The  chief  difficulty 
would  be  food  and  water;  but  he  could  slip  down  into 
the  woods  before  daybreak  and  gather  a  quantity  of 
fruit ;  perhaps  also  snare  one  or  two  wild  animals ;  and 
if  Tom  would  leave  behind  the  now  almost  empty  can- 
ister in  which  he  kept  the  fuel  for  the  engines,  he 
could  fill  that  with  water  from  the  hill  springs. 

Schwab's  countenance,  as  he  heard  these  arrange- 
ments discussed,  was  that  of  a  man  very  ill  at  ease. 
But  he  had  apparently  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
further  protest  would  be  unavailing,  and  he  held  his 
peace,  summing  up  in  his  mind,  possibly,  the  amount 
of  his  future  claim  for  damages.  Tom  handed  Abdul 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

his  revolver,  for  use  in  the  last  resort;  then  followed 
Oliphant  and  the  envoy  into  the  car. 

"  You  keep  your  vord !  "  cried  Schwab,  as  the  air- 
ship rose  into  the  now  overclouded  sky. 

Tom  set  the  engines  at  half-speed,  partly  to  husband 
his  fuel,  partly  because,  moon  and  stars  being  now 
obscured,  he  felt  the  same  kind  of  reluctance  to  go  fast 
that  a  driver  would  feel  in  going  through  a  dark  coun- 
try lane.  It  was  a  little  before  three  in  the  morn- 
ing. He  hoped  to  reach  the  yacht  about  dawn,  though, 
having  in  the  darkness  no  means  of  guiding  his  course, 
he  foresaw  the  possibility  of  going  out  of  the  way. 
But  a  strong  wind  had  blown  up  from  the  east,  and 
with  this  at  his  back  he  knew  that  he  must  in  due 
time  reach  the  sea.  Rain  began  to  fall,  at  first  in  large 
scattered  drops,  finally  in  a  steady  downpour,  and 
when  the  gray  dawn  at  last  broke  through  the  sky,  all 
three  occupants  of  the  car  were  thoroughly  drenched 
and  miserable. 

Tom  had  anxiously  watched  his  fuel  supply.  When 
the  rain  ceased  and  the  sky  became  clearer,  and  he 
caught  sight  of  the  sea  afar  off,  he  saw  that  there  was 
not  the  smallest  chance  of  reaching  the  shore. 

"  How  far  is  it,  do  you  think  ?  "  asked  Oliphant. 

"  More  than  ten  miles,  I  fancy.  I've  scraped  up  the 
last  ounce  of  paste;  we  shall  be  lucky  if  it  carries  us 
another  five  miles." 

"And  what  then?" 

"  Goodness  knows !  I  don't  know  what  part  of  the 
158 


A  HITCH 

shore  we  are  heading*  for.     We  may  be  miles  north 
or  south  of  the  yacht  for  all  I  can  tell." 

"  Will  they  see  us  on  board  ?  " 

"  Don't  think  so.  You  see,  the  yacht,  when 
we  left  her,  was  moored  pretty  close  inshore,  and, 
unless  she  runs  out  a  good  way,  the  cliffs  will  in- 
tercept the  view.  By  Jove!  we  haven't  come  far 
wrong,  though.  You  see  those  two  islands?  I 
noticed  them  from  the  deck.  They're  a  few  miles 
south  of  where  we  lay  to.  Here  goes  the  last  of  the 
fuel,  Oliphant;  we  can't  keep  up  more  than  five 
minutes.  The  only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  let  her 
down  at  a  suitable  spot,  and  then  gain  the  shore  on 
foot,  and  attract  the  attention  of  some  one  on  board. 
No  doubt  they're  keeping  a  pretty  keen  lookout." 

They  were  now  passing  over  a  considerable  stretch 
of  wooded  country.  But  as  Tom  was  looking  about 
for  a  place  convenient  for  landing,  he  saw  to  his  con- 
sternation that  they  were  within  sight  of  a  village  of 
some  size.  The  airship  was  no  more  than  six  hundred 
feet  from  the  ground:  Tom  had  not  dared  to  keep  it 
at  any  greater  altitude,  and  he  could  scarcely  hope  that 
it  had  escaped  observation.  To  descend  at  once  was 
absolutely  imperative:  yet  a  descent  in  full  sight  of 
the  village  would  certainly  bring  unwelcome  and 
hostile  visitors.  In  order  to  stave  off,  even  for  a  time, 
the  inevitable,  he  selected  a  spot  that  seemed  to  be 
about  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  village  —  a  large 
clearing  in  the  midst  of  the  wood,  about  half-way  up 

159 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

a  gently  rising  hill.  There  he  dropped  gently  to 
earth. 

The  airship  had  scarcely  come  to  rest  before  he  saw, 
from  the  village  below,  a  party  of  horsemen  issuing 
at  full  speed  from  the  gate.  Tom  counted  more  than 
a  dozen  men,  and  within  a  minute  these  were  followed 
by  another  dozen. 

"  We're  in  for  it  now,"  He  said.  "  They'll  be  on 
us  in  a  few  minutes." 

"  We  can't  fight  'em  with  only  one  revolver  and  a 
carbine,"  said  Oliphant  ruefully.  "  They'll  collar  us 
and  hold  us  for  ransom  —  perhaps  we'll  all  find  our- 
selves before  long  in  the  kasbah  of  Ain  Afroo." 

"  May  I  make  a  suggestion  ?  "  said  Sir  Mark  Ingle- 
ton.  "  The  airship  has  failed  us ;  we  are,  it  appears, 
about  to  be  surrounded  by  horsemen  who  are  doubt- 
less well  armed;  flight  is  therefore  impossible.  It  is 
equally  impossible,  as  Mr.  Oliphant  says,  to  fight. 
Before  now,  in  similar  circumstances,  diplomacy  has 
been  of  some  avail ;  and  it  is  but  right  that  I,  in  whose 
behalf  you  gentlemen  have  been  brought  to  your 
present  plight,  should  exercise  my  poor  abilities  in  dis- 
entangling the  knot." 

"  What  do  you  propose,  sir  ? "  asked  Tom,  in- 
wardly remarking  that  diplomacy  seemed  to  make  a 
man  tolerably  long-winded. 

"It  is  that  Mr.  Oliphant  and  myself  should  go 
'forth  to  meet  these  children  of  nature,  waving  a  white 
handkerchief  as  if  to  welcome  them.  I  will  explain  to 
them,  in  terms  they  will  comprehend,  and  with  a  suffi- 

160 


A  HITCH 

cient  regard  for  the  truth,  what  our  situation  is. 
They  will  doubtless  convey  us  to  their  village,  whether 
they  believe  me  or  not.  In  the  meantime  you,  Mr. 
Dorrell,  will  have  hidden  yourself  in  a  tree  —  no  diffi- 
cult feat  to  a  man  of  your  years;  and  when  you  see 
a  fitting  opportunity,  you  will  steal  your  way  to  the 
shore,  rejoin  your  friends  on  the  yacht,  and  take  such 
steps  as  may  suggest  themselves  in  consultation  with 
them  to  effect  our  release." 

"  A  capital  idea !  "  said  Tom. 

"  But  can  we  do  it  ?  Can  you  speak  to  the  Moors 
in  their  own  tongue  ?  "  asked  Oliphant. 

"  My  dear  fellow,  your  father  selected  me  for  this 
mission  precisely  on  account  of  my  knowledge  of 
Arabic,"  said  Sir  Mark.  "  If  these  Riffians  do  not 
understand  me,  it  will  be  because  my  speech  is  so 
much  purer  than  theirs." 

"  Well,  good  luck  to  you! "  cried  Tom.  "  I'm  off 
before  they  see  me." 

And  donning  his  djellab,  which  he  had  spread  on 
the  ground  to  dry,  he  disappeared  among  the  trees. 


161 


CHAPTER  XIII 

DIPLOMACY 

Before  the  band  of  horsemen  had  approached  the 
edge  of  the  little  plateau  where  the  airship  lay,  the  two 
men  stepped  forward  through  the  trees  at  its  lower 
edge  and  waved  to  the  on-comers  with  every  sign  of 
welcome. 

"  I  hope  none  of  them  will  recognize  me,"  said  Sir 
Mark  in  a  low  tone  to  Oliphant.  "  Probably  few  in 
this  wild  district  have  ever  been  in  Tangier,  where  my 
features  are  tolerably  well  known ;  and  having  been  for 
some  time  unable  to  shave  —  these  followers  of  the 
Prophet  are  forbidden  the  use  of  the  razor,  and  Mr. 
Schwab  does  not  carry  one  —  I  look  perhaps  a  little 
unlike  myself." 

The  horsemen  came  up  at  a  gallop,  bringing  their 
horses  to  a  halt  when  it  seemed  to  Oliphant  that  he  and 
his  companion  must  be  trampled  to  the  ground. 

"  Peace  be  with  you ! "  said  Sir  Mark  in  Arabic, 
making  a  slight  inclination. 

"  And  with  thee,  peace !  "  returned  the  leader  of  the 
party,  looking  not  a  little  surprised  at  this  orthodox 
salutation  from  a  N'zrani. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  most  Merciful !  "  Sir  Mark 
continued.  "  Thou  dost  behold  us  in  sore  straits,  O 

162 


DIPLOMACY 

Son  of  the  Mountain.     We  are  brothers  under  our 
skin,  thou  and  I,  and  I  crave  thy  help." 

"  Bismillah !  I  am  thy  host,  and  all  that  I  have  is 
thine." 

"  Thou  sayest  well.  Behold  this  strange  monster 
that  lieth  on  the  ground  beyond  us.  It  was  made  by  a 
countryman  of  mine,  to  simulate  the  flying  of  birds  in 
the  air  —  a  most  wondrous  thing,  and  worthy  to  be 
seen  by  his  Shereefian  Majesty  the  Sultan  himself.  I 
was  indeed  on  my  way  to  visit  the  Sultan,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  a  most  untoward  happening."  ("  That  is 
strictly  true,  though  the  fact  is  somewhat  post-dated," 
he  added  in  an  aside.)  "  Even  a  bird  tires  with  over- 
much flying;  and,  as  thou  seest,  this  thing  that 
imitates  the  flying  of  a  bird  tires  also,  so  much  so,  in- 
deed, that  we  saw  that  its  wings  would  not  carry  us 
the  full  extent  of  our  journey,  and  we  were  on  our  way 
back  to  the  coast  in  order  to  repair  its  strength,  when  it 
failed  us  utterly.  Wherefore,  friend,  we  ask  thee  to 
lend  us  the  assistance  of  some  sturdy  men  from  your 
village  to  carry  our  poor  bird  to  Casa  Blanca,  or  to  any 
ship  that  may  chance  to  be  off  your  shore.  (They  may 
have  seen  the  yacht.)  For  this  service  we  will  reward 
them  liberally." 

"  Bismillah ! "  ejaculated  the  Moor.  Oliphant, 
watching  his  face  during  Sir  Mark's  address,  had 
caught  a  fleeting  expression  of  perplexity  and  disap- 
pointment. Expecting  to  make  an  out-and-out  cap- 
ture, he  was  no  doubt  somewhat  nonplussed  at  this 
request  for  assistance.  But  he  had  the  Moor's  ready 

163 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

adaptability  to  circumstances.  His  speech  gave  no 
sign  of  his  thoughts. 

"  Bismillah !  "  he  repeated.  "  We  are  all  in  God's 
hands.  Let  my  brother  give  thanks  to  Allah  the 
most  Merciful  that  he  came  to  a  man  so  friendly  dis- 
posed as  Salaam  son  of  Absalaam.  It  shall  be  even  as 
thou  wishest,  Sidi.  But  first  thou  and  thy  son  must 
come  to  my  village,  for  your  bird  yonder  is  too  heavy 
to  be  carried  without  much  preparation.  It  will  need 
the  shoulders  of  a  great  number  of  men.  But  while 
the  men  are  making  ready,  enter  my  house,  all  too  un- 
worthy to  shelter  you;  yet  we  will  comfort  you  with 
food,  and  do  all  that  is  in  our  power  to  please  our 
guests." 

"  We  thank  thee,  O  Salaam,  for  thy  proffered  hos- 
pitality, which  we  shall  accept,  knowing  that  all  things 
will  be  provided  for  our  comfort." 

"  So  be  it,  Sidi.  But  within  the  walls  of  my  village, 
when  I  first  looked  heavenward  and  saw  this  strange 
flying  thing,  did  I  not  see  three  men  borne  along  in  it, 
and  one  of  them  in  djellab  something  like  my  own?  " 

Sir  Mark  smiled  and,  pointing  to  a  part  of  the  ap- 
paratus that  was  colored  gray,  said : 

"  No  doubt  in  the  distance  my  brotHer  mistook  that 
for  a  person.  We  are  two,  as  thou  seest." 

The  Moor  still  looked  somewhat  mistrustfully 
around.  Then,  with  an  appearance  of  being  con- 
vinced, he  dismounted,  and  ordered  his  followers  to 
dismount  also,  asking  his  guest  to  choose  whichever 
of  the  horses  he  pleased  for  himself  and  his  son.  At 

164 


DIPLOMACY 

this  imputation  of  kinship,  Sir  Mark  elevated  his  eye- 
brows; the  young  man  was  certainly  a  disreputable- 
looking  object.  Thinking  it  policy  to  accept  the  offer, 
Sir  Mark  mounted  the  head-man's  own  steed,  Oliphant 
following  his  example  with  the  horse  of  one  of  his 
party.  Then,  bidding  a  score  of  the  men  lift  the  air- 
ship on  their  shoulders,  the  head-man  and  the  rest  re- 
mounted, and  led  the  way  to  the  village.  Both  Sir 
Mark  and  Oliphant  were  glad  that  the  distance  was 
not  great,  for  the  high  Moorish  saddles  were  a  sore 
trial  to  their  unaccustomed  limbs.  The  envoy,  at  any 
rate,  was  under  no  delusion  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
hospitality  promised.  From  the  manner  in  which 
the  tribesmen  escorted  the  two  Englishmen  to  the  vil- 
lage, there  could  be  little  doubt  that  they  were  prison- 
ers. 

From  his  perch  in  the  tree  Tom  noticed  that  al- 
though the  majority  of  the  horsemen  accompanied  his 
friends  toward  the  walls,  four  or  five  detached  them- 
selves from  the  party  and  returned  to  the  plantation, 
which  they  proceeded  to  search  pretty  thoroughly. 
He  made  himself  as  small  as  he  could  among  the 
foliage  when  they  passed  beneath  him,  but  they  did  not 
look  up;  apparently  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  any 
one  should  have  mounted  into  a  tree.  When  they  had 
finished  their  fruitless  search,  they  went,  not  in  the 
direction  their  fellow-villagers  had  taken,  but  toward 
the  coast.  Tom  saw  them  spread  out  as  they  rode 
from  the  plantation,  and  watched  them  until  they  were 
mere  specks  in  the  distance.  Then,  when  they  were, 

165 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

he  supposed,  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  suspected  third 
member  of  the  English  party  could  not  have  escaped 
them,  they  wheeled  round  and  returned  one  by  one, 
again  passing  not  far  from  his  hiding-place.  Clearly, 
if  they  were  so  suspicious,  it  would  be  expedient  for 
him  to  remain  for  some  time  in  the  tree  —  an  un- 
pleasant prospect,  for  he  was  becoming  very  stiff  and 
cramped,  and  suffering  rather  severely  from  hunger 
and  thirst. 

It  was  some  hours  before  he  ventured  to  slip  to  the 
ground.  Even  then  he  did  not  dare  to  leave  the  shelter 
of  the  wood,  knowing  that  in  the  open  he  would  in- 
evitably be  observed.  But  he  stretched  his  limbs  and 
found  a  few  blackberries,  which  somewhat  appeased  his 
hunger.  Every  now  and  then  he  again  climbed  the 
tree  to  find  out  whether  any  one  was  approaching,  or 
whether  a  watch  was  still  being  kept.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  he  descried,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  vil- 
lage, a  horseman  approaching  from  the  direction  of 
the  hills.  He  came  at  full  gallop,  and  rode  straight 
into  the  village,  disappearing  there  from  Tom's  view. 

"  Hope  to  goodness  he  isn't  a  messenger  from  the 
sheik!"  thought  Tom. 

At  last,  when  the  sun  had  set,  and  the  sky  was 
darkening,  he  deemed  it  safe  to  leave  his  hiding-place. 
If  the  yacht  had  remained  where  he  had  last  seen 
her  —  and  it  was  scarcely  likely  that  Mr.  Greatorex 
would  shift  his  anchorage  —  he  conjectured  that  a 
five-mile  walk  would  bring  him  to  the  nearest  point  of 
the  shore.  Fortunately  it  was  a  beautiful  night,  clear 

166 


DIPLOMACY 

and  starlit,  though  the  moon  had  not  yet  risen. 
Taking  his  bearings  very  carefully  by  the  stars,  in 
anticipation  of  a  return  journey,  he  started,  going 
very  slowly  and  cautiously,  watching  every  shadow  lest 
it  should  indicate  the  presence  of  a  Moor.  Ignorant 
of  their  language,  he  knew  well  that  he  had  no  chance 
whatever  of  slipping  past  if  he  were  once  accosted. 
In  such  a  case  he  could  trust  only  to  his  lightness  of 
foot.  But  nothing  happened  to  cause  him  uneasiness, 
and  after  trudging  along  for  nearly  two  hours  he  was 
beyond  measure  delighted  to  see  what  was  evidently  a 
masthead  light  some  distance  out  at  sea.  No  native 
craft  would  show  a  light;  he  could  hardly  doubt  that 
the  Dandy  Dinmont  and  his  friends  were  before  him. 

He  was  quickening  his  step  in  the  pleasure  of  this 
discovery,  when  suddenly,  without  warning,  he  found 
himself  at  the  edge  of  an  encampment  lying  in  a  slight 
hollow  at  the  summit  of  the  cliffs.  He  started  back, 
but  it  was  too  late.  A  Moor,  swathed  in  his  hooded 
djellab,  came  out  of  the  darkness  and  spoke  to  him. 
Tom  saw  that  it  might  be  fatal  to  run  now ;  he  walked 
on,  hoping  that  he  might  pass  without  replying.  But 
the  Moor  spoke  again,  more  sharply,  in  a  more  ques- 
tioning tone.  Tom,  whose  head  was  covered  with  the 
hood,  mumbled  something  beneath  his  breath;  but  his 
unpractised  tongue  could  not  achieve  the  hard  guttural 
accent  of  the  Moorish  speech,  and  the  sentinel  took 
a  hasty  step  toward  him. 

There  was  now  nothing  for  it  but  to  take  to  his 
heels.  Disguise  was  no  longer  possible,  and,  to  free 

167 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

his  limbs,  he  cast  the  djellab  from  him,  and  dashed 
at  full  speed  across  the  grass  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff. 
The  slope  was  steep,  but  he  scarcely  gave  a  thought  to 
the  risks  he  ran.  Scrambling  over,  he  lay  down  and 
rolled  from  top  to  bottom,  with  many  a  gash  and  bruise 
from  sharp  edges  of  the  rock. 

Loud  shouts  pursued  him.  The  camp  was  aroused. 
Picking  himself  up,  feeling  breathless  and  dazed,  he 
sped  across  the  sandy  stretch  of  beach  and  sent  a  sound- 
ing hail  in  the  direction  of  the  yacht;  perchance  his 
voice  might  carry  above  the  rustle  of  the  surf  and  the 
cries  of  his  pursuers.  He  heard  men  scurrying  down 
a  path  in  the  cliff  somewhere  behind  him;  then  their 
footsteps  on  the  light  shingle  that  lay  above  the  sand. 
Even  if  his  cry  had  been  heard  on  the  yacht,  it  was  im- 
possible that  a  boat  should  reach  him  before  he  was 
overtaken.  There  was  only  one  way  to  safety.  He 
plunged  into  the  surf,  and  struck  out  towards  the  ves- 
sel. A  shot  followed  him,  but  he  cared  nothing  for 
that ;  in  the  darkness  it  would  puzzle  an  expert  marks- 
man to  hit  him,  when  nothing  of  him  could  be  seen  but 
a  head  bobbing  up  and  down.  Not  till  he  had  swum 
well  out  of  the  reach  of  his  pursuers,  who  had  not 
followed  him  into  the  sea,  did  the  thought  of  sharks 
cross  his  mind.  Then  he  trod  water  for  a  little,  and, 
making  a  bell  of  his  hands,  sent  another  prolonged 
cry  across  the  water. 

Is  that  an  answering  hail?  He  shouts  once  more; 
yes,  a  cry  comes  back  to  him :  "  Ahoy-o !  "  But  at 
the  same  moment  he  hears  also  the  sound  of 

168 


DIPLOMACY 

paddles,  to  his  right,  apparently  from  a  bend  of  the 
shore.  The  Moors  have  not  given  him  up,  then. 
Again  he  presses  on,  putting  all  his  force  into  a  strong 
side-stroke.  Now  another  sound  falls  upon  his  ear; 
the  welcome  sound  of  oars  plied  sturdily  in  rowlocks. 
The  yacht's  boat  is  coming  to  meet  him.  But  the 
pursuers  are  the  nearer  —  will  his  friends  arrive  in 
time?  His  long  exertions  since  he  left  the  yacht,  his 
want  of  food  and  sleep,  have  robbed  him  of  his 
strength.  His  pace  becomes  slower  and  slower.  The 
pursuers'  boat  is  coming  up  behind,  while  yet  the  beat 
of  oars  before  him  sounds  terribly  distant.  But  he  is 
still  swimming;  every  yard  he  makes  is  a  yard  added 
to  the  speed  of  the  friendly  boat.  He  struggled  on; 
and  the  Moors  were  still  some  distance  behind  when, 
gasping  and  spent,  he  was  helped  by  Timothy  and 
another  into  his  ark  of  safety. 

But  the  boat  did  not  turn  back  at  once  for  the 
yacht. 

"  Give  way,  men !  "  cried  Captain  Bodgers  himself, 
at  the  tiller. 

He  pointed  the  nose  of  the  boat  straight  for  the 
Moors'  light  craft.  Eight  sturdy  British  sailors  pulled 
with  a  will.  There  was  a  crash,  a  cry,  and  a  dozen 
Moors  were  in  the  water,  struggling  to  right  their  cap- 
sized boat. 

"  That's  all  right.  Now  we'll  get  back,  my  men," 
said  Captain  Bodgers,  and  some  few  minutes  thereafter 
Tom  was  assisted  up  the  side  of  the  yacht,  and  into  the 
arms  of  Mr.  Greatorex. 

169 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  God  bless  my  soul,  what  has  happened  ?  "  said  the 
worthy  merchant. 

"  We've  got  him  —  Ingleton,"  murmured  Tom 
faintly.  "  He's  with  Oliphant,  captured  again. 
Schwab's  in  the  cave  with  Abdul." 

"  He's  light-headed,  poor  fellow ! "  said  Mr.  Great' 
orex.  "  Here,  some  one,  blankets,  and  brandy  —  look 
alive  now." 

Tom  was  soon  stripped,  dried,  swathed  in  warm 
blankets,  and  dosed  with  brandy  till  his  blood  tingled. 
Mr.  Greatorex  fussed  round  him,  waiving  his  prof- 
fered explanations  until  he  was  thoroughly  recovered. 
Then  Tom  gave  him  an  account  of  all  that  had  hap- 
pened since  he  left  the  yacht,  Mr.  Greatorex  breaking 
in  every  now  and  then  with  "  Dear,  dear !  "  "  You 
don't  say  so !  "  "  The  villains !  "  "  What  a  mercy!  " 
and  such  like  exclamations.  Early  in  the  narrative  he 
interrupted  with  a  question: 

"  You  say  Oliphant !  Who's  Oliphant  ?  Am  I  on 
my  head  or  my  heels ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  forgot  you  didn't  know,"  said  Tom  with  a 
smile.  "  Your  new  stoker  was  Oliphant  in  disguise. 
You  see,  Byles,  your  late  stoker,  had  to  remain  at  home 
and  attend  to  his  sick  mother." 

"  No  more  sick  than  I  am ! "  declared  Mr.  Great- 
orex. "  Don't  believe  he  had  a  mother !  M'Cracken, 
indeed!  I'll  M'Cracken  him!  I  hope  his  father  will 
get  him  well  thrashed  when  he  goes  back  to  school." 

"He's  rather  big  for  that,  don't  you  think?" 
'  The  bigger  the  better !    I  never  heard  of  such  a 
170 


DIPLOMACY 

thing"!  The  impudence  of  it!  And  taking  us  all  in 
so!  What  things  are  coming  to  /  don't  know.  No 
obedience,  no  respect  for  age  —  pretending  to  be 
Scotch,  too — " 

"  Well,  he  is  Scotch,  you  know." 

"  Don't  tell  me!  He's  only  Scotch  when  it  suits 
him.  There  are  others  like  him  in  the  Lords.  He  was 
never  Scotch  in  my  house  —  where  he  shall  never  show 
his  face  again,  never!  " 

Tom  was  not  deceived  by  this  explosion  of  wrath. 
He  knew  very  well  that  Mr.  Greatorex  was  only  re- 
lieving the  tension  of  his  feelings,  and  working  off  his 
nervous  excitability  on  the  most  convenient  object. 
"  Les  absents  ont  toujours  tort,1"  he  remembered.  Mr. 
Greatorex  presently  calmed  down,  and  heard  the  rest 
of  the  story  in  comparative  quietude. 

"And  what  are  we  to  do?"  he  said  at  the  close. 
"  Swob  doesn't  matter ;  we're  not  bound  to  lift  a  finger 
for  him;  but  we  can't  leave  Ingleton  and  M'C  —  and 
Oliphant  in  the  hands  of  those  wretches.  They'll 
break  up  our  machine,  too,  and  play  the  very  deuce 
with  my  property.  What  are  we  to  do?  " 

What  Tom  answered  is  shown  by  subsequent  events. 
Two  or  three  hours  after  his  return  to  the  yacht,  when 
he  had  had  a  thorough  rest,  and  a  good  meal,  a  well- 
armed  party,  consisting  of  the  whole  ship's  company 
except  the  cook  and  one  seaman,  left  the  yacht,  on 
which  all  lights  had  been  extinguished,  and  rowed  with 
muffled  oars  to  a  sheltered  cove  on  the  south  side  of 
the  bay  —  that  farthest  removed  from  the  Arab  en- 

171 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

campment.  Mr.  Greatorex  had  insisted  on  joining  the 
party.  In  vain  Tom  pointed  out  that  a  hard  march  was 
before  them,  suggesting  delicately  that  Mr.  Greatorex 
was  not  so  light  as  he  once  was.  The  merchant  puffed 
the  objection  away.  They  disembarked  in  dead  silence, 
and,  leaving  two  of  their  number  to  take  the  boat  back 
to  the  yacht,  made  their  way  cautiously  up  the  cliff. 

Led  by  Tom,  the  party,  ten  in  all,  struck  off  in  the 
direction  of  the  village.  Thanks  to  the  light  of  the 
moon,  which  now  lay  a  little  above  the  horizon,  Tom 
was  able  to  make  a  fairly  straight  course  for  the  plan- 
tation in  which  he  had  hidden  during  the  previous  day. 
Once  or  twice  he  strayed  from  the  proper  track,  and 
ultimately  found  that  he  was  nearly  a  mile  from  his 
objective ;  but  this  was  not  bad,  considering  that  there 
was  no  beaten  road,  and  they  had  to  tramp  across  rough 
country.  When  he  reached  the  plantation  he  was  no 
longer  in  doubt  as  to  the  true  direction;  during  his 
long  stay  among  the  trees  he  had  had  time  to  take  his 
bearings  pretty  thoroughly. 

Mr.  Greatorex  was  blown  by  the  time  they  came  to 
the  clearing  in  which  the  airship  had  descended,  and 
Tom  begged  him  to  remain  hidden  in  the  plantation 
while  the  rest  went  on  to  the  village. 

"Pff!"  panted  the  perspiring  old  gentleman. 
"  Never  gave  up  anything  yet ;  on  you  go !  " 

But  a  slight  halt  was  made  while  Tom  completed 
arrangements  for  his  night  raid.  The  village  was 
walled ;  the  gates  would  no  doubt  be  shut,  as  at  Ain 
Afroo;  the  wall  must  be  scaled.  Captain  Bodgers  se- 

172 


DIPLOMACY 

lected  the  biggest  men  to  give  their  more  active  com- 
rades a  "  leg-up."  These  latter  were  provided  with 
ropes,  by  which  they  might  haul  up  the  others  when 
they  had  themselves  gained  a  footing  on  the  wall. 
Tom  impressed  on  them  all  the  necessity  of  maintain- 
ing dead  silence.  He  estimated  that  the  village  con- 
tained about  a  hundred  fighting  men,  and  if  the 
approach  of  the  raiders  was  discovered  in  time  for  the 
walls  to  be  manned,  the  chance  of  a  successful  coup 
would  be  small  indeed. 

All  carried  firearms  except  Mr.  Greatorex.  He  had 
a  knobbed  stick,  capable  of  dealing  a  very  damaging 
blow. 

"  There's  bound  to  be  a  fight,  I  suppose?"  he  had 
said  when  Tom  was  discussing  his  plans  on  the  yacht. 
"  I  don't  like  that,  you  know.  I'd  punch  a  man's  nose 
and  knock  him  down  without  scruple,  of  course;  but 
that  needn't  kill  him,  you  know.  Besides,  how  do  I 
stand?  This  is  uncommonly  like  a  piratical  raid  — 
like  Jameson's,  and  he  might  have  been  hanged.  How- 
ever!" 

Tom  assured  him  that  no  blood  should  be  shed  if 
it  could  possibly  be  avoided;  but  he  had  small  hopes 
that  the  night  would  end  without  a  fight,  and  a  very 
brisk  one. 

The  party  set  off  for  the  village,  stealing  along  under 
what  cover  was  afforded  by  bushes  and  inequalities  in 
the  ground.  When  about  three  hundred  yards  from 
the  wall  all  such  protection  ceased;  the  ground  was 
level  and  apparently  open.  Tom's  heart  was  in  his 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

mouth  lest  their  footsteps  should  be  heard  as  they 
crossed  this.  He  dared  not  set  them  at  a  run,  for 
the  soil  all  around  was  stony,  and  the  sound  of  near  a 
dozen  men  rushing  at  speed  could  not  fail  to  be  heard 
in  the  village.  So  he  kept  up  the  same  stealthy  ap- 
proach, and  his  caution  was  justified,  for  level  as  the 
space  had  appeared  at  a  distance,  as  they  approached 
the  walls  it  proved  to  have  patches  of  loose  stones,  and 
some  yards  of  boggy  land,  through  which  ran  a  nar- 
row and  evil-smelling  creek ;  to  rush  would  have  ended 
in  disaster. 

They  arrived  beneath  the  wall  without  having  heard 
any  alarm  raised  within.  In  a  trice  the  men  began 
to  clamber  up.  It  was  made  of  mud  and  rubble,  and 
was  not  in  so  ruinous  a  condition  as  the  wall  of  Ain 
Afroo.  The  first  man  reached  the  top.  Immediately 
there  was  a  shout  and  the  sound  of  hurrying  feet,  and 
Tom  sprang  up  to  the  sailor's  side  in  time  to  see  a 
Moor  in  long  djellab  dashing  from  the  nearest  house 
towards  the  wall.  Suddenly  he  halted,  and  fired.  The 
young  sailor  winced  as  the  bullet  struck  him;  but  he 
was  not  badly  hurt,  and  letting  down  his  rope,  calmly 
proceeded  to  haul  up  one  of  his  comrades.  After  fir- 
ing, the  Moor  made  a  rush  along  the  wall.  Tom 
grappled  with  him;  both  fell,  dropping  their  weapons, 
and  Tom  felt  in  an  instant  that  he  was  no  match  for 
the  sinewy  figure  that  had  him  in  his  arms.  The  Moor 
forced  him  down;  his  hands  were  already  at  Tom's 
throat,  when  Timothy  Ball,  who  had  accompanied  the 
party  in  spite  of  his  half-healed  wound,  threw  himself 


DIPLOMACY 

upon  the  enemy  from  behind,  dragged  him  backward, 
and  left  him  half-strangled,  but  yet  alive. 

When  Tom  rose  dizzily  to  his  feet,  all  his  party 
were  within  the  wall.  One  or  two  shouts  were  heard 
from  the  village,  but  apparently  the  Moors  were  not 
yet  quite  awake  to  what  was  happening.  Tom  pulled 
himself  together,  and  led  the  way  straight  for  the 
kasbah,  which,  from  his  lofty  perch  in  the  tree  during 
the  day,  he  had  seen  slightly  to  the  right  of  the  place 
at  which  the  entry  into  the  village  had  been  made. 
When  they  dashed  up  to  the  main  gate,  this  was  being 
opened  to  give  exit  to  a  couple  of  men  who  were  ap- 
parently about  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  slight 
commotion  and  the  rifle-shot  that  had  been  heard. 
The  two  were  instantly  bowled  over  by  the  onrush  of 
British  seamen,  the  party  swarmed  through  into  the 
kasbah,  the  gate  was  shut,  and  they  came  face  to  face 
with  the  headman. 

"  What  have  you  —  got  to  —  say  for  yourself?  " 
The  Moor  had  naturally  nothing  to  say  for  himself. 
He  saw  himself  confronted  by  an  elderly  whiskered 
foreigner,  in  a  yachting  cap  and  blue  serge  suit,  brand- 
ishing a  formidable  stick.  Mr.  Greatorex  was  in  a 
passion.  The  exertions  of  the  march,  the  pains  of 
being  hauled  up  a  wall,  not  without  bumps,  the  scam- 
per at  the  rear  of  his  men  into  the  Moors'  kasbah, 
had  deprived  him  equally  of  breath  and  of  self-control. 
Determined  not  to  be  left  ignominiously  out  of  the 
hurly-burly,  he  forced  himself  to  the  front,  and  thrust 
his  stick-  under  the  very  nose  of  the  Moor  —  who  stood 

175 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

a  foot  above  him  —  calling  him  to  account  in  the  splut- 
tering sentence  recorded  above. 

For  a  few  moments  there  was  a  deadlock,  and  Tom 
felt  the  need  of  an  interpreter.  Eventually  he  per- 
suaded Mr.  Greatorex  to  give  way,  and  managed  to 
make  the  Moor  understand  that  if  he  valued  his  life  he 
must  at  once  bring  out  the  Firangi  whom  he  had  re- 
cently introduced  to  his  house.  Finding  himself  shut 
off  by  the  gate  of  his  own  kasbah  from  the  support  of 
his  men,  the  Moor  recognized  that  he  had  no  choice 
but  to  comply,  and  at  a  command  from  him  one  of  his 
servants  brought  Sir  Mark  Ingleton  and  Oliphant  from 
the  upper  floor  into  the  patio,  looking  none  the  worse 
for  their  brief  incarceration. 

"  Delighted  to  see  you,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex,  step- 
ping forward  and  wringing  the  diplomatist's  hand; 
Oliphant  he  studiously  ignored. 

"  Mr.  Greatorex,  I  presume,"  returned  Sir  Mark. 
"  I  hope  to  make  your  better  acquaintance,  sir.  Mean- 
while, if  I  may  be  allowed  — " 

The  quick  eye  of  diplomacy  had  taken  in  the  situa- 
tion at  a  glance. 

"  Peace  be  with  thee ! "  he  said  in  Arabic,  turning 
with  a  bland  smile  to  the  scowling  Moor.  "  You  per- 
ceive, O  Salaam,  that  my  friends  also,  being  alarmed 
at  my  absence,  have  availed  themselves  of  your  gen- 
erous hospitality.  They  are  distressed  at  the  uncere- 
monious manner  of  their  entry,  but  you  will  assuredly 
deign  to  pardon  it,  for  have  you  not  professed  yourself 
my  devoted  servant?  You  will  be  the  first  to  forgive 

176 


DIPLOMACY 

an  intrusion  due  solely  to  the  too  great  zeal  of  my 
friends." 

The  Moor,  chagrined  and  bewildered,  had  no  option 
but  to  acquiesce  in  this  polite  fiction,  though  it  is  to  be 
feared  his  reply  lacked  something  of  the  diplomatist's 
ease  and  suavity. 

"  But  we  are  a  large  company,"  Sir  Mark  went  on, 
"  and  should  be  loath  to  trespass  on  your  hospitality. 
You  will  be  relieved,  I  am  sure,  if  we  betake  ourselves 
to  the  vessel  that  awaits  us  off  your  coast.  You  will, 
of  course,  honor  us  by  giving  us  your  company  so  far. 
Indeed,  if  you  will  do  us  the  favor  to  accompany  us 
on  board  our  vessel,  we  shall  endeavor  to  return  in 
some  slight  measure  the  gracious  hospitality  that  has 
been  vouchsafed  to  myself  and  —  my  son.  If  you  add 
to  your  favors  by  assisting  us  in  the  march  —  by  show- 
ing us  the  easiest  road  and  defending  us  from  the 
perils  that  may  beset  us,  such  as  are  known  to  you,  O 
Salaam  —  you  may  be  assured  that  we  shall  show  our 
gratitude  in  very  tangible  form.  There  are,  as  you 
know,  even  in  Morocco,  evil  counsellors,  men  of  vio- 
lence, some  who  would  even  dare  to  lift  their  hands 
against  the  Sultan  himself.  If  there  be  any  such  in 
this  village,  which  truly  I  am  loath  to  believe,  I  advise 
you,  as  brother  advises  brother,  to  exhort  them  to 
mildness  of  demeanor.  These  friends  of  mine  who 
now  enjoy  your  hospitality  are  men  of  war ;  they  have 
arms,  you  perceive,  in  the  use  of  which  they  are  well 
skilled;  and  since,  in  our  progress  to  the  shore,  you 
will  of  course  occupy  the  place  of  honor  at  my  right 

177 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

hand,  in  all  likelihood  you  would  suffer  hurt  if  there 
are  among  your  followers  any  men  of  Belial  whose 
hearts  incline  towards  bloodshed;  that  would  be  a 
great  grief  to  us.  And  now,  O  Salaam,  as  the  night 
draws  toward  dawn,  it  will  be  well  if  you  perform  your 
morning  ablutions  and  devotions  and  prepare  to  lead 
us  forth.  Bismillah!" 

Sir  Mark,  as  he  laughingly  informed  Mr.  Greatorex 
afterwards,  had  purposely  made  his  address  somewhat 
lengthy,  so  as  to  give  Salaam  plenty  of  time  to  regain 
his  self-possession  and  to  weigh  the  pros  and  cons. 
The  upshot  was  that,  shortly  after  dawn,  the  whole 
party,  with  Salaam  son  of  Absalaam  in  their  midst, 
set  off  toward  the  coast,  the  airship  being  carried  on 
the  shoulders  of  a  troop  of  the  villagers  who  had  been 
promised  liberal  bakshish  in  return  for  their  services. 

On  arriving  at  the  shore,  Captain  Bodgers  signaled 
to  his  men  on  the  yacht  to  send  a  boat,  and  with  it  a 
fresh  supply  of  fuel  for  the  airship,  which  had  been 
deposited  just  above  high-water  mark.  While  this 
was  being  done,  Mr.  Greatorex  emptied  his  pockets  of 
small  coin,  to  redeem  the  promise  to  the  carriers,  and 
Sir  Mark  kept  up  an  even  flow  of  amicable  talk,  ap- 
parently quite  oblivious  of  the  throng  of  Arabs  who 
had  observed  the  proceedings  from  their  encampment 
on  the  cliff,  and  by  and  by  came  down  to  the  shore  and 
stood  around,  listening  with  looks  of  amazement  to 
this  fluent  Nazarene  who  discoursed  so  pleasantly  of 
things  intimate  to  them. 

The  men  soon  arrived  with  a  large  tin  of  the  fuel- 
178 


DIPLOMACY 

paste.  It  was  placed  in  the  car ;  Tom  made  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  machinery  to  assure  himself  that  it  had 
suffered  no  hurt  while  in  the  charge  of  Salaam;  then 
Oliphant  joined  him.  A  few  moments  later,  with  a 
mighty  whirring  sound,  the  airship  rose  gallantly  into 
the  air,  to  the  great  wonderment  of  the  Moors.  While 
they  were  intently  watching  the  maneuvers  of  the  air- 
ship, filling  the  air  with  their  cries  of  "  Mashallah !  " 
Sir  Mark  and  the  rest  of  the  party  embarked  and  pulled 
out  into  the  bay,  two  of  the  men  sitting  in  the  stern 
of  the  boat  with  their  faces  to  the  shore  and  their 
rifles  held  conspicuously  ready.  Salaam  indulged  in  a 
burst  of  fury  at  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  out- 
witted. His  followers  gathered  around  him  and  held 
excited  consultation,  some  being  apparently  inclined 
to  fire  on  the  departing  boat,  others  to  pursue  the  air- 
ship. But  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  neither 
course  by  the  time  the  party  reached  the  yacht;  and 
when  Captain  Bodgers  trained  on  them  the  two  brass 
guns  she  carried,  they  hurriedly  broke  up  and  disap- 
peared over  the  cliffs. 

"  You  were  just  in  time,  Mr.  Greatorex,"  said  Sir 
Mark  Ingleton  as  they  sat  together  in  the  boat.  "  A 
messenger  came  in  from  the  sheik  yesterday  afternoon, 
and  I  shrewdly  suspect  that  arrangements  had  been 
made  to  transfer  us  to  our  old  quarters  in  the  kasbah. 

I  say  '  our  old  quarters,'  forgetting  that  Mr.  Oliphant 

» 

"  Oliphant !  "  interrupted  Mr.  Greatorex.  "  There 
now !  What  do  you  think  of  this,  Sir  Mark  ?  " 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

And  he  proceeded  to  delight  his  guest  with  a  vigor- 
ous indictment  of  M'Cracken,  and  Byles,  and  Byles' 
sick  mother,  and  Lord  Langside  for  having  sent  an 
English  gentleman  on  a  mission  to  such  an  abominable 
country,  and  for  having  such  an  outrageously  impu- 
dent son. 


180 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   TROGLODYTES 

Meanwhile,  how  had  things  been  faring  with  Herr 
Hildebrand  Schwab,  the  unlucky  representative  of  the 
Schlagintwert  Company  of  Diisseldorf  and  the  partner 
of  Sir  Mark's  captivity? 

When  Abdul  pointed  out  the  cave  in  which  it  was 
advisable  that  they  should  take  shelter,  and  the  means 
of  access  to  it,  Schwab  groaned  deeply,  and  declared 
that  nothing  on  earth  should  induce  a  German  subject 
of  his  weight  to  attempt  so  perilous  a  climb.  But  on 
reflection  he  came  to  look  upon  it  as  the  lesser  of  two 
evils,  and  with  much  travailing  of  spirit  and  discom- 
fiture of  body  he  allowed  himself  to  be  assisted  up  the 
incline  so  long  as  progress  on  foot  was  possible,  and 
then  to  be  hoisted  at  the  end  of  the  rope.  Abdul's 
strength  alone  would  not  have  sufficed  to  haul  so  great 
a  mass  into  safety;  but  Salathiel  ben  Ezra,  who  was 
by  this  time  thoroughly  weary  of  solitude,  and  had 
come  to  the  end  of  his  stock  of  provisions,  lent  willing 
help,  with  a  view,  as  it  proved,  of  turning  the  situa- 
tion to  account. 

He  used  every  means  of  persuasion  and  cajolery 
\vhich  his  ingenuity  could  devise  to  persuade  Abdul  to 

181 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

release  him.  One  of  his  propositions  was  that  they 
should  convey  the  German  to  the  sheik  of  Ain  Afroo 
and  claim  a  sufficient  reward.  Abdul  ridiculed  the 
idea.  Both  he  and  the  Jew  would  get  short  shrift  from 
the  sheik,  now  that  the  more  valuable  of  his  captives 
was  snatched  from  his  grasp.  Salathiel  then  proposed 
that  they  should  try  to  gain  the  nearest  town  where 
they  might  find  Europeans,  and  tell  a  moving  story  of 
the  sufferings  and  perils  they  had  endured  in  rescuing 
the  German  from  the  hands  of  his  captors.  But  to 
this,  as  to  his  other  suggestions,  Abdul  turned  a  deaf 
ear. 

They  were  a  strangely  assorted  trio.  Schwab  only 
half  trusted  the  Moor;  the  Moor  despised  Schwab; 
both  disliked  the  Jew.  It  was  not  long  before  Schwab 
declared  that  he  was  hungry,  and  illustrated  the  priva- 
tions he  had  already  suffered  by  exhibiting  the  un- 
wonted gap  between  his  waistcoat  and  his  person: 
"  And  I  have  ze  straps  of  my  vaistcoat  drawn  so 
tight !  "  he  added.  Salathiel's  scanty  stock  of  pro- 
visions having  been  exhausted,  Abdul  descended  to 
forage,  and  returned  with  a  supply  of  dates  and  olives, 
and  the  tin  filled  with  water  at  the  spring. 

"  Ach !  My  pipe !  It  is  in  ze  room  vere  first  I  vas 
laid  up.  Mein  Gottl  And  ze  list  of  Schlagintwert, 
ze  last  edition,  revise'  and  enlarge'.  Ze  Moors  zey  vill 
now  order  vizout  me,  and  I  lose  colossal  sum  in  com- 
mission ! " 

All  this  was  Greek  to-  Abdul,  but  a  little  more  com- 
prehensible to  the  Jew,  with  whom,  however,  Schwab 

182 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

refused  to  discuss  business.  He  preferred  to  ply  Ab- 
dul diligently  with  questions  about  the  airship:  where 
it  came  from ;  how  it  was  driven ;  what  was  the  compo- 
sition of  the  fuel. 

"  Already  is  it  partly  known  to  me,"  he  said.  "  It 
contain  large  quantity  Photographic  Sensitizer  Prepa- 
ration Number  Six.  But  zat  is  not  all.  I  know  it. 
Vy?  Because  my  Jarman  intellex  tell  me  so.  But 
vizout  doubt  I  discover  it;  zen  zere  shall  be  business 
for  Schlagintwert.  You  do  not  know  vat  ze  ozer  zink 
is?" 

Abdul  shook  his  head. 

"  Zen  you  vas  never  made  for  business.  Vun  can 
not  learn  it ;  it  is  born.  So  vas  I  born !  " 

He  discoursed  on  business  and  other  things,  despis- 
ing his  audience  for  their  want  of  appreciation;  then 
fell  to  bemoaning  his  fate.  Thus  the  hours  passed 
away. 

At  last  the  monotony  of  the  situation  was  broken. 
Abdul,  like  a  good  Mohammedan,  was  engaged  in  his 
devotions  when  the  Jew,  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
caught  sight  of  a  party  of  Moors  far  below,  and  sig- 
naled to  them  before  he  could  be  prevented.  Spring- 
ing up,  Abdul  was  on  the  point  of  killing  him  with  his 
knife  when  Schwab  hastily  interposed. 

"  No,  I  vill  not  have  it,"  he  said.  "  You  kill  him; 
zen  am  I  accomplice ;  and  vot  is  zat  for  a  kind  of  busi- 
ness, I  say  ?  " 

But  he  did  not  decline  to  assist  Abdul  to  truss  up 
the  Jew  and  render  him  incapable  of  further  mischief. 

183 


No  more  than  Abdul  himself  did  he  wish  to  attract 
visitors. 

The  mischief,  however,  was  already  done.  The 
Moors,  a  search  party,  despatched  by  the  sheik,  had 
observed  the  Jew's  signals,  and  at  once  spurred  their 
horses  across  the  country  until  they  reached  the  foot 
of  the  precipitous  ascent.  They  dismounted:  one  of 
them  began  to  climb  up.  For  a  time  Abdul  watched 
his  progress;  then,  when  he  thought  the  man  had 
mounted  far  enough,  he  threatened  to  hurl  him  from 
the  face  of  the  cliff  if  he  advanced  another  step  up- 
ward. It  was  so  obviously  in  Abdul's  power  to  make 
good  his  threat  that  the  Moor  hesitated;  then,  in  re- 
sponse to  an  encouraging  shout  from  below,  he  again 
began  to  climb.  He  may  have  reflected  that  his  com- 
rades could  afford  to  shout ;  they  were  not  clinging  like 
a  fly  to  the  face  of  an  almost  perpendicular  wall  of 
rock;  but  he  may  have  reflected  also  that  great  would 
be  his  praise  and  reward  if  he  succeeded  in  bringing  to 
account  the  insolent  strangers  who  had  done  such  de- 
spite to  his  sheik.  No  doubt  also  he  reckoned  on  sup- 
port from  the  member  of  the  party  who  had  signaled. 

Up  he  came,  slowly  feeling  his  way.  Abdul  bent 
over  the  brink,  and,  just  as  the  man  ascended  within 
reach,  smartly  rapped  his  knuckles  with  the  butt  of 
Tom's  revolver.  At  the  same  moment  a  shot  from 
below  struck  the  rock  within  an  inch  of  his  head.  Ab- 
dul at  once  darted  back  within  the  shelter  of  the  cave ; 
but  the  climber,  taught  by  the  sharp  blow  he  had  re- 
ceived, ventured  no  farther,  and  shortly  afterward 

184 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

began  to  descend.  When  he  reached  the  party  below, 
it  was  clear  that  he  met  with  a  reprimand  from  the 
leader  for  his  want  of  courage ;  but  he  sullenly  refused 
to  make  another  attempt,  and  seemed  by  his  gesticu- 
lations to  invite  each  of  his  comrades  in  turn  to  take 
his  place.  But  nobody  came  forward,  and  after  an 
excited  discussion  —  portions  of  which  were  in  tones 
so  loud  that  Abdul  was  able  to  interpret  to  Schwab, 
nervously  eager  to  learn  what  was  to  be  done  —  a  mes- 
senger was  sent  off  in  the  direction  of  Ain  Afroo,  while 
the  five  or  six  who  remained  settled  down  to  keep 
watch  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice. 

Rather  more  than  an  hour  passed.  Schwab  became 
more  and  more  anxious.  At  last  a  much  larger  party 
rode  down  at  a  gallop,  among  them  the  sheik  himself. 
Raising  his  voice  when  he  came  below  the  cave,  he 
called  on  the  occupants  to  surrender,  threatening  them 
with  the  most  fearful  tortures  if  they  persisted  in  defy- 
ing him.  It  was  evident  from  the  terms  he  used  that 
he  was  under  the  impression  that  his  escaped  prisoners 
and  their  rescuers  were  all  in  the  cave  together,  and 
thus  that  he  had  them  fairly  trapped.  Abdul  made 
the  most  of  this  mistake.  He  warned  the  sheik  against 
braving  the  power  of  the  white  man.  He  had  already 
had  one  example  of  it;  the  Firangi  had  shown  him 
more  mercy  than  he  deserved;  the  second  example 
would  entail  dire  consequences  on  himself  and  his 
village.  But  this  reply  only  fanned  the  flames  of  the 
sheik's  wrath ;  he  was  not  to  be  intimidated  by  words : 
and,  hurling  more  threats,  he  began  to  consult  with 

185 


KING  OF  ,THE  AIR 

his  followers  as  to  some  means  of  enforcing  his  sum- 
mons. 

It  was  clearly  a  hazardous  if  not  indeed  an  impossi- 
ble task  to  approach  the  cave  from  below.  One  man 
in  the  cave,  so  long  as  he  kept  himself  out  of  range  of 
rifle  fire,  could  hold  any  number  at  bay.  How  much 
more,  then,  would  it  be  disastrous  to  make  the  attempt 
against,  as  the  sheik  supposed,  five  or  six  well-armed 
men?  But,  as  Abdul  well  knew,  it  was  just  possible  to 
gain  the  plateau  above  the  cave,  from  which  access  to 
it  could  be  obtained,  by  climbers  acting  in  concert  on 
the  eastern  face  of  the  hill.  That  this  longer  but 
easier  ascent  would  be  known  to  the  enemy  there  was 
no  doubt,  for  Abdul  had  just  recognized,  among  the 
horsemen  who  had  accompanied  the  sheik,  a  young 
man  who  had  been  his  companion  in  former  days,  and 
with  whom  as  a  boy  he  had  actually  performed  the 
feat. 

Anxiously  He  watched  the  colloquy  below.  Behind, 
Schwab  was  imploring  him  to  explain  what  the  sheik 
had  said.  It  turned  out  as  he  had  feared.  His  for- 
mer companion  with  a  few  others  left  the  sheik  and 
disappeared;  the  rest  made  themselves  comfortable 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  foot  of  the  hill.  Abdul 
had  little  doubt  that  he  would  soon  have  to  reckon 
with  an  attack  from  above;  not  an  easy  matter,  in 
truth,  but  far  more  likely  to  succeed  than  any  attempt 
from  below. 

There  was  a  long  interval.  Under  stress  of  fear 
and  hunger,  Schwab  was  nearly  demented.  He  walked 

186 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

about  the  cave,  with  his  hands  pressed  hard  upon  the 
the  neighborhood  of  the  lowest  button  of  his  waist- 
coat, uttering  guttural  groans,  making  lugubrious  ap- 
peals to  the  Homeland,  and  to  a  lady  whom  he  called 
at  one  time  Mrs.  Bottle,  at  another  "  mein  briddy 
Chain,"  and  ever  and  anon  anathematizing  Thomas 
Dorrell,  "  vat  do  nozink  for  me  —  for  me,  vat  do  so 
much  for  him  viz  Photographic  Sensitizer  Preparation 
Number  Six."  Abdul  paid  no  heed  to  the  German's 
fumings  and  frettings,  nor  to  the  entreaties  of  Sala- 
thiel  ben  Ezra,  who,  stretched  on  his  back,  tied  hand 
and  foot,  added  to  his  prayers  the  most  lavish  prom- 
ises if  the  Moor  would  only  release  him  and  help  him 
to  return  to  his  own  place. 

At  last,  Abdul,  squatting  silent  and  watchful  just 
within  the  opening  of  the  cave,  saw  a  pair  of  legs  dang- 
ling in  front  of  him.  Some  of  the  enemy  had,  as  he 
had  foreseen,  made  their  way  to  the  top  of  the  hill, 
and  were  about  to  attempt  to  reach  the  cave  from 
above.  It  was  a  foolhardy  proceeding,  for  they  could 
only  come  singly,  and  the  occupants  of  the  cave  could 
easily  dispose  of  them.  Indeed,  Abdul  surmised  that 
the  sheik  was  trying  an  experiment,  sending  one  of 
his  men  to  draw  the  badger.  However  that  may  have 
been,  the  application  of  the  point  of  Abdul's  knife  to 
the  calf  of  one  of  the  dangling  legs  caused  the  owner 
of  them  to  draw  them  hastily  up  and  to  swarm  up  the 
rope  to  which  he  was  clinging,  as  a  spider  runs  up  his 
filmy  thread  when  threatened  by  an  enemy. 

Apparently  the  sheik  was  satisfied  that  a  direct 
187 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

assault,  whether  from  above  or  below,  was  hopeless, 
for  thenceforth  the  cave  party  were  left  in  peace.  But 
it  was  peace  only  externally.  Even  Abdul  himself, 
who  had  hitherto  preserved  extraordinary  composure, 
now  showed  signs  of  perturbation.  What  was  the 
enemy  doing?  He  dared  not  attempt  to  see,  for  he 
knew  that  if  he  showed  his  head  it  would  be  the  target 
for  a  dozen  bullets.  Did  the  sheik  intend  to  starve 
them  out  ?  Their  food  was  all  gone ;  the  tin  of  water 
was  almost  empty!  it  was  impossible  to  get  a  fresh 
supply  of  either.  Voices  were  heard  from  below; 
once  Abdul  heard  an  answering  call  from  above!  it 
appeared  indeed  as  if  the  sheik  had  resolved  on  an  in- 
vestment, knowing  that  sooner  or  later  the  occupants 
of  the  cave  must  yield  or  die. 

The  day  passed.  Schwab  fell  into  a  sleep  of  ex- 
haustion. Abdul  remained  sleepless,  wondering  why 
the  Englishman  had  not  reappeared  with  the  airship, 
as  he  had  said  he  would  do.  Had  some  mishap  be- 
fallen him  ?  Surely  he  had  not  wilfully  deserted  them ! 
This  Abdul  refused  to  believe.  When  morning  broke 
he  ventured  to  go  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  look 
out.  The  Moors  were  still  below ;  apparently  they  had 
camped  all  night  on  the  ground.  They  caught  sight 
of  Abdul,  and  mockingly  invited  him  to  share  their 
cous-cousoo.  He  made  no  reply,  and  again  withdrew 
into  the  shadow. 

Schwab  was  by  this  time  a  wreck.  He  lay  silent. 
From  the  back  of  the  cave  came  piteous  moans  from 
Salathiel,  begging  to  be  relieved  of  his  bonds.  But 

188 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

Abdul  was  obdurate;  he  had  enough  to  do  to  keep 
watch  on  the  enemy  in  front,  without  having  to  reckon 
with  the  Jew  besides,  for  he  knew  that  Salathiel  would 
stick  at  no  treachery. 

Impassive  as  Abdul  appeared,  he  was  in  reality  on 
the  verge  of  despair.  The  time  was  fast  approaching 
when  he  must  choose  between  starvation  and  surrender. 
The  choice  did  not  trouble  him;  he  would  never  sur- 
render to  the  sheik  of  Ain  Afroo.  What  troubled  him 
was  the  thought  that  his  old  enemy  would  once 
more  triumph;  that  the  vengeance  on  which  he  had 
set  his  whole  mind  for  years  was  to  be  snatched  from 
him. 

He  was  bitterly  thinking  on  these  things  when 
Schwab  rose  feebly  to  his  feet. 

"  I  can  no  more,"  he  said ;  "  I  go  to  yield  myself. 
I  muss  have  somezink  to  eat.  Still  am  I  Jarman  sob- 
jeck;  zey  vill  respeck  our  Kaiser  who  is  in  Berlin." 

Abdul  expostulated,  striving  in  his  imperfect  Eng- 
lish to  warn  the  German  of  the  risk  he  ran.  He  knew 
the  sheik ;  he  was  a  terrible  enemy ;  he  would  care  noth- 
ing who  or  what  his  prisoner  was.  Who  in  Europe 
would  be  any  the  wiser  if  in  this  remote  mountainous 
region  a  man  were  slowly  done  to  death  in  the  dun- 
geons of  a  kasbah?  But  Schwab  would  not  listen; 
he  craved  for  food.  "  Let  us  eat,  for  to-morrow  we 
die,"  exactly  expresses  his  state  of  mind.  He  moved 
toward  the  entrance  to  the  cave,  shaking  off,  with  a 
sudden  access  of  rage,  Abdul's  detaining  hand.  The 
Moor  followed  him,  and  stood  behind  him  when 

189 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Schwab,  at  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  waved  his  hand 
and  shouted : 

"  I  give  myself  opp.  But  you  muss  come  and  fetch 
me." 

But  before  the  echo  of  his  voice  had  died  away, 
Abdul  suddenly  pulled  him  back  by  main  force  into 
the  cave. 

"  See !  see ! "  he  cried. 

"  Tansend  Teufel!  Vat  shall  I  see  ? "  returned 
Schwab. 

At  the  point  where  Abdul  now  stood  the  country 
immediately  beneath  the  cave  was  visible,  and  both  the 
men  were  screened  from  the  Moors.  But  the  sky  was 
open,  and  far  away  in  the  clear  blue  to  the  northwest 
Abdul  had  descried  a  speck  which  moment  by  moment 
was  growing  larger. 

"  Vat  shall  I  see  ?  "  repeated  Schwab,  vainly  look- 
ing in  the  direction  of  Abdul's  stretched  forefinger. 

"  The  flying  ship!  "  cried  Abdul.     "  It  comes!  " 

"  You  say  zat !  Lemme  see,  lemme  see,  lemme 
see!" 

He  roofed  his  eyes  with  his  hands,  and  peered  into 
the  distance. 

"  Ach !  zey  veep !  "  he  said,  rubbing  away  the  tears 
that  had  gathered.  "  It  is  for  vant  of  food,  nozink 
else." 

He  looked  again. 

"  Boy,  you  are  right !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  truly  it  is 
ze  airship.  Zey  come  for  me !  Ach !  you  dirty  Moors, 
now  you  may  go  choke!  I  vizdraw  vat  I  said  about 

190 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

give  myself  opp.  I  vas  not  myself;  I  vas  —  I  vas  — 
anozer  man.  Ach,  boy,  so  am  I  indeed  hungry ! " 

The  two  watched  the  airship  drawing  nearer.  For 
a  moment  Abdul  wondered  whether  it  would  come 
into  any  danger  from  the  rifles  of  the  Moors  either 
below  or  on  the  hilltop  above.  But  remembering  how 
clearly  everything  on  the  ground  could  be  seen  from 
the  car  of  the  airship,  he  was  reassured,  guessing  that 
Tom  would  descry  the  besiegers  in  plenty  of  time  to 
avoid  their  shots. 

To  gain  the  hilltop  the  airship  had  approached  at  a 
considerable  altitude,  but  was  now  dropping.  About 
half  a  mile  from  the  cave  it  suddenly  made  an  up- 
ward sweep,  and  Abdul  knew  that  the  enemy  had  been 
seen.  Before  it  sailed  out  of  sight  over  the  hill,  Ab- 
dul plucked  off  his  djellab,  and  waved  it  in  the  mouth 
of  the  cave.  The  signal  provoked  two  or  three  shots 
from  those  of  the  Moors  below  whose  attention  was 
not  engrossed  by  the  machine,  which  some  of  them 
had  seen  before  and  of  which  all  had  heard  most  mar- 
velous accounts.  Abdul  was  unhurt,  and  his  signal  was 
answered  by  a  shot  from  the  car  of  the  airship,  which 
then  passed  out  of  sight. 

"  Famos!  Zey  know  ve  are  still  alive !  'Mein  Gott! 
truly  mein  hunger  is  colossal." 

Tom  had  in  point  of  fact  discovered  the  enemy  at 
the  moment  when  Abdul  noticed  the  change  in  the 
direction  of  the  airship.  The  discovery  was  by  no 
means  a  welcome  one. 

"  I  didn't  reckon  on  their  hiding-place  being  found 
191 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

out,"  he  said  to  Oliphant.     "  It  makes  things  rather 
awkward." 

"  They  must  be  in  a  pretty  bad  state  in  the  cave  if 
the  Moors  have  been  here  long." 

"  And  we  can't  get  at  them ;  we  daren't  go  too  near, 
for  at  close  quarters  the  Moors  would  riddle  the  planes 
with  their  shot  and  very  likely  smash  the  engines.  And 
we  certainly  can't  let  the  airship  down  and  go  for 
them.  The  worst  of  it  is,  they  know  pretty  well  by 
this  time  what  the  airship  really  is,  and  we  couldn't 
throw  them  into  a  panic  as  we  did  before." 

"  Confound  this  German !  "  said  Oliphant.  "  I 
shouldn't  mind  if  we  could  have  a  really  good  scrim- 
mage and  some  fun  for  our  money,  but  there's  nothing 
in  it." 

"  There's  Abdul,  you  see,"  replied  Tom.  "  We'll 
have  to  think  it  out.  They're  in  the  cave,  safe  enough, 
and  can  evidently  hold  on  there.  Let  us  make  for 
that  hill  yonder,  and  think  the  matter  out." 

As  the  airship  crossed  the  hill  of  the  cave,  Tom 
steering  for  the  loftier  hill  some  five  miles  to  the  east, 
a  dozen  Moors  sprang  to  their  saddles  and  set  off  in 
pursuit.  But  the  ground  was  very  rough;  they  had 
to  follow  a  tortuous  route;  and  when,  a  few  minutes 
later,  the  airship  reached  the  hill,  Tom  calculated  that 
he  had  probably  half  an  hour  to  spare  before  the 
horsemen  would  arrive. 

"  We'd  better  ground,  and  economize  fuel,"  he  said. 
'  'Pon  my  word,  Oliphant,  it  seems  as  if  this  is  going 
to  be  as  tough  a  job  as  it  was  at  the  kasbah." 

192 


THE  TROGLODYTES 

Choosing1  a  fairly  open  space  almost  at  the  top  of 
the  hill,  Tom  brought  the  machine  to  earth.  Then, 
while  Oliphant  watched  for  signs  of  the  pursuing 
horsemen,  Tom  stretched  himself  on  his  back,  with 
his  hands  under  his  head  and  his  cap  tilted  over  his 
eyes,  and  settled  down  to  a  good  hard  think. 

"  Don't  go  to  sleep,"  said  Oliphant. 

Tom  replied  with  a  grunt. 


TQ.3 


CHAPTER   XV 
VIEW  HALLOO! 

Oliphant  sat  with  his  knees  up,  looking  at  his  friend, 
thinking  what  a  cool  hand  he  was.  No  one  could  have 
guessed  from  Tom's  easy  attitude  that  he  was  thinking 
out  a  problem  on  which  lives  depended.  As  the  min- 
utes passed,  even  Oliphant  was  deceived. 

"Not  asleep,  Dorrell?" 

Tom  grunted,  but  did  not  stir.  Another  minute  or 
two,  then  he  suddenly  jumped  up. 

"  Well,  I  think  I've  got  it,"  he  said,  and  he  chuckled. 

"What  is  it?" 

"  Come  along.    I'll  explain  as  we  go." 

The  two  mounted  the  car;  Tom  started  the  ascen- 
sional screws;  and  the  airship  rose  slowly  from  the 
hill.  When  they  had  left  the  ground  some  three  hun- 
dred feet  beneath  them  they  saw,  a  mile  or  more  dis- 
tant, the  body  of  horsemen  who  had  set  off  in  pursuit 
from  the  Moors'  encampment.  The  airship  was  headed 
in  the  direction  from  which  they  had  come,  and  when 
they  saw  it  they  halted,  and  waited  until  it  had  soared 
past  them ;  then,  having  no  doubt  that  it  was  returning 
to  the  hill  with  the  intention  of  again  attempting  to 
rescue  the  blockaded  men,  they  wheeled  round,  and 
galloped  in  pursuit. 

194 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

The  airship  was  going  at  only  a  moderate  speed,  so 
that  the  horsemen  were  able  to  keep  pace  with  it.  Tom 
chuckled  again,  and  Oliphant,  to  whom  he  had  by  this 
time  imparted  his  notion,  seemed  to  find  great  amuse- 
ment in  the  sight. 

"  The  beggars  little  imagine  they're  playing  our 
game,"  he  said. 

"  No,  indeed.  I  wonder  what  they  really  are  think- 
ing. Probably  they  fancy  something  has  gone  wrong 
with  our  works  and  we  can't  go  any  faster." 

"  D'you  think  they've  got  wind  of  our  former 
breakdown  ?  " 

"  It's  not  unlikely.  News  travels  very  fast  in  these 
countries  that  haven't  got  the  telegraph ! " 

When  they  arrived  at  the  hill  of  the  caves,  there 
appeared  to  be  no  change  in  the  situation.  A  small 
group  of  four  or  five  men  were  squatting  on  the  sum- 
mit; more  than  a  score  were  congregated  below.  All 
eyes  were  directed  upward  as  the  airship  again  came 
into  view,  and  the  men  laughed,  recognizing  how 
fruitless  would  be  any  renewed  attempt  to  rescue  the 
prisoners.  They  all  carried  rifles,  and  evidently  in- 
tended to  use  them  when  the  vessel  came  within  range. 
But  it  passed  too  high  above  their  heads,  still  going 
very  slowly,  and,  so  far  from  descending  toward  the 
cave,  sailed  on  toward  the  sea.  It  crossed  one  of 
the  adjacent  hills,  then  sank  a  little,  so  that  it 
was  only  visible  then  to  the  few  men  who  kept  watch 
above. 

But  a  minute  or  two  afterwards  the  occupants  of 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

the  car,  looking  round,  saw  that  these  men  were  on 
their  feet,  gesticulating  with  great  excitement. 

"  They've  taken  the  bait !  "  cried  Oliphant,  laughing 
outright. 

The  men  had  noticed  that  the  airship,  instead  of 
continuing  its  northwesterly  course,  had  suddenly  taken 
a  turn  to  the  left,  and  was  making  at  tremendous 
speed  straight  for  the  village  of  Ain  Afroo.  Rising 
higher  into  the  air,  so  that  he  could  get  a  view  over 
the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  Tom  saw  that  the  whole  body 
of  horsemen,  now  joined  by  the  sheik  and  his  party, 
were  riding  at  a  mad  gallop  for  the  village.  By  this 
time  the  airship  was  a  mile  ahead  of  them,  and  the 
two  Englishmen  laughed  heartily  as  they  watched  the 
frantic  efforts  of  the  Moors  to  reduce  the  gap.  They 
were  left  hopelessly  behind,  and  were  still  more  than 
a  mile  from  the  walls  when  the  airship,  hovering  di- 
rectly over  the  roof  of  the  kasbah,  began  very  slowly 
to  drop  earthward  as  if  a  descent  were  going  to  be 
made  on  the  spot  where  it  had  formerly  rested. 

The  descent  took  considerable  time.  Who  was  there 
to  tell  the  frenzied  horsemen  that  the  accursed  Firangi 
was  playing  with  them?  They  urged  their  foaming 
steeds  up  the  hill  at  a  furious  rate,  making  light  of  all 
obstacles,  and  extorting  a  tribute  of  admiration  from 
the  Englishmen  for  horses  and  riders  alike.  They 
clattered  into  the  village,  dashed  through  the  street, 
pulled  the  horses  up  on  their  haunches  at  the  door  of 
the  kasbah,  flung  themselves  from  the  saddles,  and 
poured  into  the  patio  and  up  the  stairs. 

196 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

The  sheik  himself,  by  far  the  best  mounted  of  the 
troop,  was  the  first  to  arrive ;  and  within  a  few  seconds 
he  sprang  out  of  the  opening  on  the  roof,  followed 
closely  by  several  members  of  his  household.  But 
what  was  this  ?  The  airship,  instead  of  resting  on  the 
flagged  roof,  was  hundreds  of  feet  above  them,  and, 
horror  of  horrors!  sailing  with  terrific  speed  back  to- 
ward the  hill  of  the  caves.  For  a  few  moments  the 
Moors  stood  gazing  in  bewilderment,  being  joined  by 
more  men  from  below.  Then,  with  hearty  Moslem 
curses,  they  rushed  back  to  the  opening,  toppling  over 
one  another,  stumbling  down  the  stairs  in  their  haste. 
Down  into  the  patio,  out  of  the  gate,  on  to  their  horses' 
backs  once  more,  and  off  they  set,  pell-mell  after  the 
airship. 

But  the  horses  were  badly  blown.  There  were  four 
miles  of  heavy  country  to  cover.  And  by  the  time 
they  were  again  clear  of  the  walls  the  airship  was  half- 
way to  the  hill. 

Tom  and  his  friends  were  hugely  delighted  with  the 
success  of  their  simple  bit  of  strategy.  They  could 
see  the  horsemen  like  ants  in  the  distance  beneath,  urg- 
ing their  poor  panting  horses  to  the  utmost  of  their 
capacity. 

"  We  ought  to  have  plenty  of  time  to  get  them 
away,"  said  Tom. 

"  Yes,  but  hang  it  all !  we've  clean  forgotten  that  we 
can't  lift  both  Schwab  and  the  Moor." 

"  Great  Scott !  "  Tom  ejaculated,  in  consternation. 
But  in  a  moment  his  face  cleared.  "  We'll  manage 

197 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

that,"  he  said  cheerfully.  But  then  he  received  an- 
other shock.  He  saw  that  the  four  or  five  men  who 
had  held  their  watch  on  the  plateau  were  still  there: 
they  had  not  followed  the  rest.  Their  horses  could 
be  seen  tethered  in  the  grove  beneath,  and  the  men 
were  gathered  in  a  knot,  watching  the  rapid  approach 
of  the  machine,  which  probably  they  had  expected  to 
see  no  more. 

"  There's  only  one  thing  for  it,"  said  Tom.  "  We 
must  go  slap  at  them,  and  trust  to  luck.  If  they  shoot, 
they  may  do  so  before  we  are  within  range,  and  at  this 
speed  they  may  easily  miss  us.  They  are  sure  to  be 
a  bit  nervous,  too." 

Tom  had  already  begun  the  descent,  obliquely  upon 
the  hill.  When  the  airship  was,  as  nearly  as  he  could 
calculate,  on  a  level  with  the  summit,  he  again  put  the 
engines  to  their  utmost  speed,  and  dashed  straight  at 
the  little  group.  There  were  three  or  four  reports  al- 
most simultaneously,  and  above  the  whir  of  the  screws 
Tom  thought  he  heard  a  sound  of  rending,  as  if  one  of 
the  planes  had  been  struck  by  a  bullet.  The  vessel,  in- 
deed, dipped  slightly,  and  for  a  moment  he  feared  that 
it  would  be  dashed  against  the  face  of  the  hill.  But 
he  jerked  up  the  lever  controlling  the  planes,  the  air- 
ship rose  the  few  feet  necessary  to  clear  the  summit, 
and  once  more  sped  on  its  course. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  group  on  the  hill-top  had 
taken  fright.  They  could  not  know  that  if  the  airship 
dashed  into  them,  they  would  be  as  formidable  to  it  as 
it  could  be  to  them.  Even  if  they  had  known  this, 

198 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

they  would  probably  not  have  been  willing  to  sell  their 
lives,  even  though  in  doing  so  they  should  break  up 
the  machine  and  hurl  its  occupants  to  destruction. 
With  one  consent  they  broke  and  fled. 

Tom  instantly  reversed  the  engines,  and  the  airship 
glided  slowly  to  rest  on  the  plateau.  But  the  path  by 
which  the  fugitives  were  attempting  to  make  good 
their  flight  was  only  wide  enough  to  accommodate  one 
man  at  a  time,  and  that  with  difficulty.  Only  three 
of  the  men  had  begun  to  descend  when  Tom  sprang 
out  of  the  car.  The  other  two,  fearing  to  be  attacked 
from  behind,  turned  instinctively  to  meet  the  supposed 
danger.  Then,  seeing  that  they  had  only  two  men  to 
deal  with,  and  feeling  no  doubt  that  they  would  be 
completely  at  the  mercy  of  these  men  when  once  they 
had  begun  the  descent,  they  hesitated  for  a  second  at 
the  brink. 

If  they  had  used  this  second  to  draw  their  formid- 
able knives,  Tom's  adventure  might  have  ended  there 
and  then,  for  in  his  eagerness  he  had  forgotten  to 
snatch  up  his  revolver.  But  their  halt  was  due  rather 
to  nervousness  than  to  courage,  and  Tom  was  never 
lacking  in  promptitude  at  the  critical  moment.  He 
dashed  straight  at  them.  One  of  them  swung  round 
at  once  and  slithered  down  the  path.  The  other,  some- 
what more  mettlesome,  made  a  grab  at  his  knife.  But 
he  had  only  half  drawn  it  from  his  belt  when  Tom's 
fist  shot  out  and  tumbled  him  headlong  after  his  com- 
rade. The  result  would  have  been  amusing  if  Tom 
had  had  time  to  observe  it.  From  top  to  bottom  of 

199 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

that  rocky  declivity  there  was  an  avalanche  of  Moors. 
The  impetus  with  which  the  topmost  man  had  been 
shot  over  the  edge  sent  him  smack  into  the  man  next 
below.  The  two  then  rolled,  or  rather  pitched,  on 
top  of  those  who  had  preceded  them,  and  were  making 
their  way  quickly  yet  laboriously  down  the  steep  tracks, 
and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  were  bruised  and 
broken  limbs  at  the  bottom. 

But  Tom  had  neither  eyes  nor  ears  for  the  discom- 
fiture of  his  enemies.  There  was  still  much  to  be 
done  before  he  could  be  sure  that  his  friends  and  his 
airship  were  out  of  harm's  way.  One  of  his  friends 
was  already  taking  things  into  his  own  hands.  At 
the  first  hint  of  what  was  happening  Abdul  had  left 
the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  was  now  swarming  up  the 
perilous  face  of  the  hillside.  Breathless  he  came  over 
the  brink,  on  the  opposite  side  from  that  where  the 
Moors  had  disappeared,  almost  before  Tom  could  turn 
round. 

"All  well  below?"  asked  Tom. 

"  Yes,  master." 

"  Can  you  bring  up  the  big  man  ?  " 

"  With  a  rope,  master." 

"  Quick,  then :  we  have  no  time  to  spare." 

"  And  the  Hudi,  master?  " 

"What  of  him?" 

"  He  made  them  come.  We  tied  him,  feet  and 
hands." 

"  Untie  him,  but  leave  him.  He  can  make  them 
come  again ! " 

200 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

A  rope  was  quickly  unshipped  from  the  car  and 
strongly  looped.  Abdul  descended,  the  rope  being 
held  by  both  Oliphant  and  Tom  above,  who,  doubtful 
whether  their  strength  would  stand  the  strain  of  the 
ponderous  German's  weight,  hitched  it  round  a  rocky 
prominence  at  the  brink  of  the  hill.  But  fear  lent 
Schwab  extraordinary  agility  —  as  once  before  in  the 
inclosure  of  Midfont  House.  With  the  rope  looped 
about  him,  he  hauled  himself  up  by  it,  assisting  his 
progress  with  his  feet  against  the  hill.  He  was  in  a 
bath  of  perspiration,  his  fat  face  was  pale  as  death, 
when  he  reached  the  top  and  sank  exhausted  at  Tom's 
feet.  Oliphant  and  Tom  together  hoisted  him  into 
the  car,  and  by  the  time  he  was  settled,  Abdul  had  cut 
the  Jew's  bonds  and  again  clambered  up,  pursued  by 
entreaties,  wild  threats  and  execrations  from  the  luck- 
less Salathiel  ben  Ezra. 

Glancing  in  the  direction  of  Ain  Afroo,  Tom  re- 
joiced to  see  that  he  had  still  about  ten  minutes  to 
spare  before  the  pursuing  horsemen  could  arrive  at 
the  spot.  He  knew  from  experience  that  with  Schwab 
as  a  passenger  the  ascensional  screws  did  not  exert 
sufficient  power  to  lift  three  other  men ;  but  when  Oli- 
phant had  reminded  him  of  this,  a  way  out  of  the  diffi- 
culty suggested  itself.  If  once  the  airship  could  be 
raised  from  the  ground  and  the  horizontal  screws  set 
in  motion,  it  was  likely  that,  with  the  speed  thus  ob- 
tained, they  might  suffice  (the  planes  being  inclined 
at  the  proper  angle)  to  overcome  the  downward  pull 
of  gravity. 

201 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Tom  rapidly  explained  to  Abdul  the  plan  he  had 
formed.  Then,  entering  the  car  in  which  Schwab 
and  Oliphant  already  were,  he  set  the  ascensional 
screws  in  motion.  The  vessel  slowly  rose.  Mean- 
while Abdul  had  looped  carefully  about  his  body  the 
rope  by  which  Schwab  had  been  hauled  up,  the  upper 
end  of  which  had  again  been  securely  attached  to  the 
car.  When  the  airship  had  risen  a  few  feet  from  the 
hilltop,  Tom  set  the  horizontal  engines  at  full  speed, 
and  the  vessel  sailed  beyond  the  plateau,  Abdul  dang- 
ling from  it  at  the  end  of  the  rope,  as  he  had  done  once 
before  when  rescued  from  the  shark.  He  showed  no 
fear ;  in  the  loop  he  was  perfectly  safe,  for  even  if  the 
vessel  sank  with  his  weight,  it  would  be  so  slowly  that 
he  would  run  no  risk  of  being  brought  too  violently 
into  contact  with  the  ground. 

As  Tom  had  expected,  the  vessel  did  not  sink.  But, 
the  horizontal  screws  being  partly  engaged  in  counter- 
acting the  force  of  gravity,  the  speed  of  the  airship 
was  reduced  to  only  five  or  six  miles  an  hour,  and  at 
that  rate  it  was  evident  that  the  fuel  would  not  hold 
out  until  they  reached  the  coast.  A  second  breakdown 
must  be  averted  at  all  costs;  it  was  unlikely  that  they 
would  be  able  to  escape  the  clutches  of  predatory 
Moors  a  second  time.  No  doubt  the  story  of  what 
had  happened  before  had  spread  for  many  miles 
through  the  country,  and  short  shrift  would  be  given 
to  the  aeronauts  if  again  they  were  brought  to  earth. 

There  was  now  only  a  minute  or  two  to  spare  be- 
fore the  sheik  would  arrive.  Whatever  could  be  done 

202 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

must  be  done  at  once.  Glancing  down,  Tom  saw  be- 
low him  the  horses  belonging  to  the  men  who  had  just 
been  tumbled  from  the  plateau.  The  men  themselves 
were  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  not  dead,  as  Tom 
was  glad  to  see  —  the  rugged  declivity  had  broken 
their  fall  —  but  evidently  completely  disabled.  With- 
out hesitation  Tom  reduced  the  speed  of  the  engines 
and  descended,  shouting  to  Abdul,  who  at  the  end  of 
the  rope  would  of  course  reach  the  ground  first,  to 
secure  two  of  the  best  horses,  and  follow  as  fast  as 
he  could  in  the  track  of  the  airship. 

Owing  to  the  delay  that  had  occurred,  Abdul  had 
only  just  leaped  into  the  saddle  when  the  horsemen 
came  into  sight  scarcely  half  a  mile  away.  The  sheik 
was  far  ahead  of  his  men,  and  the  pace  even  of  his 
splendid  Arab  showed  that  there  was  little  fear  of 
Abdul's  being  overtaken.  The  young  Moor  set  off  at  a 
gallop,  a  second  horse  at  his  side.  There  was  a  shout 
behind  him;  the  sheik  called  upon  his  followers  to 
spur  their  flagging  steeds :  clearly  he  intended  gamely 
to  continue  the  pursuit. 

But  the  fugitives  were  now  well  away.  Tom  ac- 
commodated the  speed  of  the  airship  to  the  pace  of 
the  horses  below,  keeping  at  a  height  of  no  more  than 
a  hundred  feet  from  the  ground  so  as  to  be  able  to 
drop  down  and  stand  by  Abdul  in  case  of  need.  For 
a  few  minutes  it  seemed  as  though  the  lad  was  to  be 
close  pressed,  in  spite  of  the  hard  galloping  the  horses 
of  the  pursuers  had  already  done.  But  gradually  they 
dropped  farther  and  farther  behind;  Abdul's  horses 

203 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

were  fresh;  he  himself  was  a  light  weight;  and  Tom 
began  to  breathe  more  freely. 

Another  danger,  however,  occurred  to  him.  The 
country  was  at  present  wild  and  desolate,  with  no 
signs  of  habitation.  But  as  he  neared  the  coast,  he 
would  undoubtedly  pass  scattered  villages  and  towns, 
and  it  was  possible  that  Abdul  might  be  checked  at 
one  of  these.  He  therefore  felt  it  desirable  to  rise  to 
a  greater  height,  so  that  he  might  obtain  a  more  ex- 
tensive outlook  over  the  country  and  indicate  to  Abdul 
a  course  which  would  prevent  him  from  running  into 
danger. 

He  soon  saw  that  his  precaution  was  justified.  The 
pursuers  were  still  sticking  doggedly  to  the  trail,  and 
Tom  noticed  that  from  time  to  time  they  were  joined 
by  fresh  horsemen  from  the  hamlets  through  which 
they  had  passed.  He  could  not  distinguish  figures  in 
the  distance,  but  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  sheik  had 
already  obtained  a  fresh  horse,  and  was  among  a 
group  which  had  far  outstripped  the  rest  of  the  troop 
and  was  gradually  diminishing  the  distance  between 
them  and  their  quarry.  Abdul  was  riding  gallantly 
on,  changing  from  horse  to  horse  with  admirable  dex- 
terity; but  it  was  clear  that  the  pursuers,  with  many 
opportunities  of  obtaining  remounts,  must  in  course  of 
time  run  him  down.  The  airship  would  always  indi- 
cate the  direction  in  which  they  should  ride. 

Again  Tom  had  to  devise  a  means  of  overcoming  a 
new  difficulty.  The  chase  had  now  lasted  some  hours, 
and  the  matter  was  becoming  urgent.  By  good  luck, 

204 


VIEW  HALLOO! 

the  sight  of  a  high  conical  hill,  well  wooded,  somewhat 
to  the  right  of  the  course  they  had  been  following,  sug- 
gested a  plan.  Lowering  the  airship  to  within  easy 
speaking  distance  of  the  Moor  —  a  maneuver  which 
caused  some  uneasiness  to  his  horses,  tired  as  they 
were  —  Tom  directed  him  to  make  for  this  hill,  and 
remain  in  hiding  among  the  trees  until  rejoined.  At 
the  moment  he  thought  of  making  all  speed  to  the 
yacht,  dropping  Schwab,  replenishing  his  can  of  fuel, 
and  returning  for  Abdul.  But  a  little  consideration 
caused  him  to  change  his  mind.  It  might  prove  a  very 
difficult  matter  to  find  the  hill  again  when  returning. 
It  must  be,  he  guessed,  at  least  sixty  miles  from  the 
sea,  and  he  could  not  remember  the  landmarks  exactly 
enough  to  be  able  to  retrace  his  course. 

In  rapid  consultation  with  Oliphant  he  decided  on 
another  plan.  Altering  the  course  of  the  airship  sev- 
eral points  to  the  southward,  and  keeping  a  sharp 
lookout  upon  the  pursuers,  he  found  that  they  were 
still  following  him  as  a  guide.  No  longer  having  to 
consider  the  powers  of  endurance  of  Abdul's  horses, 
he  quickened  the  speed  of  the  airship,  and  saw  in  a 
little  while  that  this  had  had  its  effect,  several  of  the 
horsemen  beginning  to  straggle,  though  they  all  con- 
tinued in  the  same  direction.  Having  thus  taken  the 
enemy  some  five  or  six  miles  out  of  their  course,  he 
suddenly  swung  round  and  made  off  at  full  speed  to- 
ward the  hill  where  he  had  left  Abdul,  of  which  he 
had  been  careful  not  to  lose  sight. 

"  They  are  a  game  lot,"  remarked  Oliphant,  as  the 
205 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

horsemen  again  followed  the  track.  They  were  soon 
left  mere  specks  on  the  horizon,  and  at  last  dropped 
entirely  out  of  sight.  Approaching  the  hill  from  an- 
other side,  some  time  elapsed  before  the  airship  was 
seen  by  Abdul  from  his  concealment  in  the  wood. 
Then  he  again  mounted ;  his  horses  had  profited  by  the 
short  rest;  and  the  fugitives,  having  gained  several 
miles  by  Tom's  maneuver,  were  able  to  take  matters 
comparatively  easy  until  late  in  the  afternoon. 


206 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ICARUS 

Meanwhile  Schwab  had  wakened  to  the  facts  of 
existence,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  announced  his 
awakening  was  characteristic. 

"  Himmel !  how  I  am  hungry !  " 

"Hullo,  Mr.  Schwab!  Feel  better?"  said  Tom, 
throwing  a  hasty  glance  at  the  German  lying  against 
the  rail. 

"  Vorse !  vorse !    T'ousand  times  vorse ! " 

Oliphant  laughed  at  his  hollow  tones. 

"  It  is  nozink  for  to  laugh,"  returned  Schwab  with 
a  flicker  of  animation.  "  I  am  vizout  food,  I  know 
not  how  many  hours.  It  is  not  viz  me  custom  to  go 
so  long  vizout  food ;  it  give  me  rude  pain  —  zere !  " 

He  laid  his  hand  on  the  lowest  button  of  his  waist- 
coat. 

"  No  longer  am  I  as  I  vas.  Vunce  I  swell,  not 
too  moch,  but  all  ober;  now,  I  fade,  I  shrink,  I  have 
to  get  ze  tailor  to  take  me  in." 

"  Awful,  for  a  business  man,"  said  Oliphant,  "  to 
be  taken  in,  you  know." 

"  So !  But  it  muss  be  done.  Ach !  I  am  hungry 
as  a  —  as  a  —  as  a  — " 

"  Hunter !  "  suggested  Oliphant. 
207 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  No ;  hungry  as  a  rhinoceros.  I  could  eat  —  I 
could  eat  —  I  could  eat  a  — " 

"  Whale  I" 

"  No;  I  could  eat  a  steak,  underdone,  from  ze  grill, 
viz  chip  bodadoes,  gabbage  viz  vinegar,  and  Voosder 
sauce,  viz  a  long  glass  —  ach!  two  long  glasses,  of 
lager  from  Mimchen.  Ach!  ze  zought  of  it  make  my 
mous  cry." 

"  For  goodness'  sake,  Oliphant,  give  him  some  grub 
and  shut  his  mouth,"  cried  Tom. 

"Shut  my  mous?  How  zen  can  I  eat?  For  ze 
sake  of  anyzink  give  me  somezink  to  eat ;  zen  my  mous 
vill  shut  and  open  of  itself;  vun  needs  not  to  zink  ven 
one  eats." 

Bubbling  with  amusement,  Oliphant  handed  the 
German  some  biscuits  from  the  stock  they  had  brought 
with  them.  But  his  mirth  evaported  when  he  caught 
sight  of  Tom's  face.  He  had  wondered  a  little  at 
the  techy  tone  in  which  Tom  had  last  addressed  him, 
and  from  his  anxious  expression  he  could  not  but 
guess  that  something  was  seriously  wrong. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Dorrell  ?  " 

"  The  engines  —  don't  you  smell  'em  ?  " 

"I  do,"  replied  Oliphant,  sniffing.  "What's  it 
mean  ?  " 

"  It  means  that  the  turbine  casing  is  becoming  over- 
heated. I  altered  the  inlet  valve  so  as  to  let  more  of 
the  explosive  mixture  into  the  turbine  —  and  this  is 
the  result." 

"What  can  we  do?" 

208 


ICARUS 

"  Simply  reduce  speed  and  hope  that  we  can  weather 
through." 

"  Any  idea  how  much  farther  we  have  to  go  ?  " 

"  About  fifty  miles,  I  should  think.  We  must  have 
done  forty  at  least.  I  shut  off  one  of  the  engines  just 
now,  but  the  second  one  can't  keep  us  afloat.  I  wish 
Schwab  would  fade  and  shrink  into  nothing." 

Schwab  had  heard  nothing  of  this.  He  was  other- 
wise occupied.  But  noting  now  the  anxious  looks  of 
his  two  companions  he  said,  with  his  mouth  full,  "  Do 
I  eat  too  many  ?  " 

Tom  was  too  much  concerned  to  reply,  but  Oliphant 
laughed  again. 

"  We  can't  go  on,"  said  Tom.  "  I  shall  have  to 
drop  her  somewhere  and  see  if  I  can  put  matters  right. 
We  were  five  or  six  miles  ahead  of  the  Moors  when  I 
caught  sight  of  them  last,  and  we've  a  few  minutes' 
grace  at  any  rate.  They  won't  know  exactly  where 
we  are." 

Choosing  a  secluded  spot,  he  descended  and  brought 
the  airship  to  rest.  Abdul  had  halted ;  Tom  explained 
to  him  the  cause  of  his  descent,  and  set  him  to  keep 
watch  on  the  enemy  while  he  examined  the  machinery. 
The  Moor  looked  thoroughly  done  up,  and  it  struck 
Oliphant  that  he  was  even  more  in  need  of  food  than 
Schwab,  so  he  gave  him  the  remainder  of  the  stock 
of  biscuits  —  not  a  large  quantity  now.  As  for 
Schwab,  he  had  fallen  asleep. 

It  took  Tom  but  a  few  minutes  to  adjust  the  valve, 
but  he  knew  that  the  result  of  this  adjustment  must 

209 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

be  a  serious  reduction  of  speed.  He  was  greatly  per- 
turbed. It  was  clearly  impossible  for  Abdul  to  ride 
much  farther:  the  horses  were  in  a  terrible  state  of 
exhaustion.  They  were  cropping  the  scanty  herbage 
at  the  side  of  the  track  —  poor  refreshment  after  the 
fatigue  they  had  undergone. 

"  The  Moors'  horses  must  be  equally  played  out, 
that's  one  comfort,"  said  Tom ;  "  at  least,  those  that 
have  pursued  us  all  the  way,  if  any  have.  That's 
doubtful:  the  Moors  have  probably  drawn  on  every 
village  they  have  come  through." 

"  I  say,  did  you  hear  that  ?  "  asked  Oliphant. 

It  was  a  shout  —  apparently  from  a  spur  of  forest 
some  distance  to  the  right  of  the  line  which  they  had 
expected  the  enemy  to  take. 

"  They're  spreading  out !  Who'd  have  thought 
they'd  have  kept  it  up  so  long?  " 

"Well,  you  see,  they  know  that  one  of  us  is  on 
horseback:  that  means  that  the  machine  won't  carry 
us  all;  and  in  the  nature  of  things  they  can  overtake 
a  rider." 

"  I  can  see  nothing  for  it  but  that  Abdul  must  push 
on  alone,"  said  Tom.  "  We  can  manage  to  get  along 
slowly,  and  as  long  as  the  machine  can  keep  us  afloat 
at  all  they  can't  catch  us.  But  if  they  catch  sight  of 
Abdul  he's  bound  to  be  run  down.  Abdul,  you  must 
go  on  by  yourself.  Get  to  the  coast  if  you  can,  and 
swim  out  to  the  yacht  —  can  you  swim  ?  " 

"Yes,  master." 

"  Swim  to  the  yacht,  then,  and  tell  Mr.  Greatorex 

210 


ICARUS 

what  has  happened.     He'll  do  all  he  can  to  help  us  if 
we  can  only  get  near  enough." 

Abdul  showed  some  reluctance  to  leave  the  others  in 
difficulties,  but  he  obeyed.  He  mounted  the  less  ex- 
hausted of  the  horses  and  set  off. 

"  He'll  have  a  chance,"  remarked  Tom,  as  he  dis- 
appeared. "  When  the  Moors  see  us  in  the  air  again 
they  will  suppose  that  Abdul  is  keeping  pace  with  us 
as  before." 

"  It's  nearly  six  o'clock ;  it'll  be  dark  soon." 

"  Yes,  that  gives  him  another  chance  —  if  they  don't 
sight  him." 

At  this  moment  he  observed  a  score  of  horsemen 
emerging  at  a  rapid  pace  from  the  forest  whence  the 
shout  had  come.  They  were  about  half  a  mile  away. 
Catching  sight  of  the  airship,  they  gave  utterance  to 
loud  cries  of  triumph,  and  somewhat  changed  their  di- 
rection. Tom  at  once  caused  the  airship  to  rise,  and 
by  the  time  the  Moors  arrived  at  the  spot  where  it 
had  rested  it  was  high  above  their  heads  and  out  of 
harm's  way. 

The  Moors  immediately  began  to  scour  the  neigh- 
borhood for  signs  of  Abdul.  Tom  steered  slightly  to 
the  left  of  the  direction  in  which  the  lad  had  gone,  in 
order  still  further  to  delude  the  pursuers.  Not  long 
afterward  a  much  larger  band  of  riders  galloped  up 
from  the  direction  in  which  the  airship  had  come,  and 
when  they  joined  the  former  party,  it  was  seen  that 
they  numbered  at  least  sixty  in  all. 

"  We're   rousing  (the  whole  country,"   said  Tom 

211 


KING  OE  THE  AIR 

with  a  return  to  his  wonted  cheerful  manner.  "  If  it 
goes  on  like  this  there'll  be  thousands  by  the  time  we 
reach  the  coast." 

"  Shall  we  reach  it,  d'you  think?  " 

"  I  can't  tell.  The  engines  are  good  for  a  few  miles ; 
how  many  I  don't  know." 

"  Vere  am  I  ?  "  said  Schwab,  awaking.  "  Ach !  I 
remember.  Do  ve  soon  arrive  at  ze  yacht  ?  " 

"We  probably  shan't  arrive  at  all,"  replied  Tom. 
"  One  of  the  engines  is  failing." 

"  But  it  muss  not  —  it  muss  not !  Surely  ze  Photo- 
graphic Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six  vill  not 
fail?  Schlagintwert's  preparations  never  fail;  zat  is 
ze  foundation  of  zair  business." 

"No;  the  preparation  is  all  right;  it's  the  engine." 

"  Ach !  it  should  have  been  made  in  Jarmany !  But, 
tell  me  true,  Mr.  Dorrell,  are  ve  in  danger  ?  " 

"  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Schwab,  that  I  can't  guarantee 
the  machine  for  another  ten  miles." 

"Ach!  Vat  vill  I  become?  Vat  vill  Schlagin- 
twert's become?  Vy  did  you  bring  me  in  zis  bad-made 
airship  from  my  captivity?  If  you  zere  had  left  me, 
our  Kaiser  who  is  in  Berlin  vould  have  sent  a  telegram 
to  ze  Sultan  of  Marokko,  and  zen  ve  should  see  some- 
zink.  Zere  had  I  at  least  enough  to  eat." 

"  Confound  it !  "  cried  Tom,  thoroughly  exasperated. 
"  We  came  to  fetch  Sir  Mark  Ingleton,  not  you.  But 
for  you  we  should  have  been  half-way  home  to  Eng- 
land by  this  time;  and  but  'for  your  weight,  we 
shouldn't  have  been  in  this  pretty  mess  at  all." 


212 


ICARUS 

Schwab's  jaw  fell.  This  was  an  aspect  of  the  mat- 
ter that  had  not  occurred  to  him.  Lifting  his  waist- 
coat, and  looking  down,  he  said  slowly: 

"  Truly  I  vish  I  had  not  eaten  so  much  biscuit !  " 

It  was  now  getting  dark.  Tom  steered  toward  a  bit 
of  rough  country  to  the  north,  again  some  points  out 
of  his  course,  his  object  being  to  worry  the  pursuers 
as  much  as  possible  and  to  draw  them  away  from  the 
line  of  Abdul's  flight.  With  great  satisfaction  he  saw 
them  follow.  After  scattering  over  a  wide  area  in 
search  of  the  fugitive  whose  disappearance  had  so 
much  puzzled  them,  they  had  again  formed  a  compact 
body,  and  pursued  the  airship  in  the  belief  that  their 
quarry  must  still  be  within  touch  of  it.  In  a  few  more 
minutes  they  were  obliterated  by  the  darkness ;  but  the 
sky  was  starry,  and  while  on  the  ground  they  were 
invisible  from  above,  it  was  probable  that  the  airship 
was  still  visible  to  them. 

Tom  had  noticed  for  some  time  past  that  the  wind, 
which  had  been  slight  and  for  the  most  part  in  his 
favor  during  the  day,  was  shifting,  and  blowing  with 
greater  force.  In  the  circumstances  the  airship  was 
making  very  little  headway,  and  Tom's  anxieties  were 
further  increased  when  his  sense  of  smell  apprised  him 
that  the  engines  were  again  becoming  overheated. 
Even  if  the  airship  were  out  of  sight,  the  pursuers 
would  probably  still  hear  the  whirring  of  the  propel- 
lers, and  it  was.  advisable,  both  for  the  sake  of  cooling 
the  machinery  and  of  depriving  the  enemy  of  a  clue, 
that  the  airship  should  once  more  be  brought  to  the 

213 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

ground.  But  it  was  with  some  trepidation  that  Tom 
allowed  it  to  sink.  He  chose  a  spot  just  beyond  a 
stretch  of  woodland  from  which  it  was  scarcely  pos- 
sible that  the  vessel  could  have  been  seen.  He  could 
only  hope  that  the  sound  had  not  been  heard. 

"  I  vish  — "  began  Schwab,  as  they  came  to  rest. 

"Shut  up!"  said  Tom  in  a  vehement  whisper. 
"  Everything  depends  on  our  keeping  perfect  silence 
now." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  horsemen  could  be  heard  ap- 
proaching. They  dashed  past  the  trees  behind  which 
the  airship  stood,  and  Tom's  heart  beat  fast  as  he 
realized  how  very  near  the  danger  was.  But  the  rid- 
ers did  not  pause,  and  the  sound  of  the  horses'  hoofs 
gradually  faded  away. 

"  We'd  better  lie  snug  for  a  time,"  said  Tom.  "  Per- 
haps the  wind  will  moderate.  I'm  afraid  the  exertion 
of  overcoming  it  would  do  for  the  engines  altogether." 

While  Oliphant  held  the  electric  torch,  carefully 
shaded,  Tom  again  overhauled  the  engines. 

"  The  valve  is  sticking,"  he  said  in  a  whisper. 
"  There  is  some  grit  between  the  stem  and  the  sleeve. 
It  must  have  got  in  at  our  last  stop.  I  shall  have  to 
take  off  the  cover  and  file  the  stem  smooth." 

This  was  an  operation  of  some  difficulty ;  but  as  it 
turned  out  there  was  time  to  spare,  for  as  the  night 
wore  on  the  force  of  the  wind  rather  increased  than 
diminished.  Schwab  bemoaned  the  lack  of  a  pipe  and 
beer;  the  others  were  so  tired  and  famished  that  they 
were  not  provoked  to  either  merriment  or  anger  by 

214 


ICARUS 

his  complaints.  He  by  and  by  again  fell  asleep. 
Tom  and  Oliphant  kept  watch  and  watch  through- 
out the  night.  When  Tom  awoke  from  an 
uneasy  nap  shortly  before  dawn,  he  was  relieved 
to  find  that  the  wind  had  dropped,  though  its  direc- 
tion was  still  unfavorable.  At  daybreak  a  start  was 
made,  and  for  a  short  time  the  valve  worked  satisfac- 
torily, thanks  to  the  large  amount  of  oil  used  to  coun- 
teract the  overheating.  Then,  however,  the  oil  began 
again  to  give  off  an  unmistakable  odor.  The  airship 
was  brought  to  ground,  and  Tom  found  that  the  in- 
jured stem  had  become  bent.  With  infinite  care,  to 
avoid  breaking  it  altogether,  Tom  straightened  it  with 
a  small  hammer,  and  again  filed  it  smooth. 

Once  more  the  airship  resumed  its  flight.  Fortu- 
nately there  was  no  sign  of  the  pursuers,  and  Tom 
hoped  that  Abdul  had  managed  to  evade  their  clutches. 
The  country  was  very  wild  and  deserted,  and  Tom 
purposely  steered  some  miles  out  of  what  he  thought 
was  the  true  course,  in  order  to  avoid  the  cultivated 
district  that  lay  in  the  direct  line  to  the  yacht.  Sud- 
denly, however,  skirting  the  shoulder  of  a  hill,  he 
came  into  full  view  of  a  village,  with  the  sea  a  few 
miles  beyond. 

"  Thank  Heaven !  "  ejaculated  Oliphant,  "  we  may 
do  it  yet." 

"  Surely  that's  the  very  village  you  were  talcen  to 
with  Ingleton,"  said  Tom,  scanning  the  place  through 
his  binocular.  "  Have  a  look." 

"By  George!     I  believe  you're  right.     There's  a 
215 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

whole  host  of  Moors  round  it,  too.     They've  sighted 
us.     They're  off!" 

Taking  the  glass  from  him,  Tom  saw  a  body  of  at 
least  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  galloping  off  in  a  direc- 
tion which  would  bring  them  between  him  and  the 
coast. 

"  Smother  them !  "  he  cried.  "  I  wouldn't  mind  if 
we  hadn't  to  drop  so  often  to  cool." 

"  Can't  we  make  one  good  dash  for  it  ?  We've  only 
eight  or  nine  miles  to  go,  haven't  we  ?  " 

"  My  dear  fellow,  we  can't  do  five  miles  at  a  stretch 
—  unless  we  drop  Mr.  Schwab." 

"  Donnerwetter !  "  cried  the  German,  starting  up  in 
fright.  "  Vat  you  say  ?  Vould  you  do  zat  ?  Vould 
you  desert?  Vould  you  leave  me,  a  Jarman  sobjeck, 
to  be  tore  in  piece  by  t'ousand  vile  Mohrs,  ven  ze  sea, 
ze  sea  vat  sails  ze  Jarman  fleet,  is  so  near,  so  near? 
But  yes  —  I  know  it !  I  alvays  say  so.  Never  trust  an 
Englishman  —  egzept  in  business !  " 

Tom  treated  this  outburst  with  silent  contempt. 

"  I  can't  go  at  a  higher  speed  than  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,"  he  said  to  Oliphant.  "  We're  perhaps  a  mile 
nearer  the  sea  than  the  Moors,  but  they  can  equal  our 
pace  for  a  short  distance,  and  I  know  we'll  have  to1 
come  down  before  we  get  to  the  sea.  If  we  do,  we'll 
be  collared." 

"  Risk  a  dash !    It  seems  our  only  chance." 

Tom  hesitated  for  a  few  moments.  Then  he  said, 
setting  his  teeth : 

"  All  right.    It's  the  only  thing  to  do." 
216 


ICARUS 

He  put  both  engines  at  full  speed,  and  Schwab 
shouted  with  delight  when  he  saw  that  the  airship 
was  gradually  drawing  away  from  the  galloping 
Moors.  But  in  ten  minutes  all  three  were  aware  of 
the  ominous  smell.  Was  it  possible  to  reach  the  yacht, 
now  clearly  in  view  ?  Tom,  alert  to  catch  the  slightest 
indication  of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  engines,  hoped, 
doubted,  hoped  again,  but  was  resolved  to  hold  on  to 
the  last. 

Another  five  minutes  passed. 

Then  all  were  startled  by  a  strange  grinding  sound 
in  the  defective  engine. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Oliphant. 

"It's  all  up/'  said  Tom  quietly.  "The  heat  has 
loosened  the  turbine  blades,  and  they  are  smashing  to 
pieces."  Even  as  he  spoke  sheets  of  flame  shot  from 
the  exhaust  pipe,  accompanied  by  a  series  of  deafening 
reports. 

Tom  at  once  reduced  speed,  shouting  to  Oliphant  to 
adjust  the  planes  for  descent. 

"  Zink !  Zink  vat  you  do !  "  cried  Schwab,  now  al- 
most frantic.  "  Zey  vill  have  us !  Ze  Mohrs  vill  cut 
our  zroats!  Vy  —  vy  —  vy — " 

Tom  paid  no  heed;  Oliphant  muttered  under  his 
breath.  They  were  sinking  toward  a  ravine  through 
which  a  watercourse  ran  to  the  sea.  The  engine,  its 
parts  grinding  and  tearing  with  a  hideous  scrunching 
sound,  was  shooting  out  flames,  to  the  accompaniment 
of  detonations  like  those  of  a  Maxim  gun.  Another 
minute  or  two  would  witness  a  cataclysm;  but  Tom 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

thought  that  if  the  farther  side  of  the  ravine  could  be 
reached,  they  might  gain  a  little  grace.  The  enemy 
would  have  some  difficulty  in  crossing  at  speed. 

The  engines  were  failing;  the  airship  was  falling 
more  and  more  rapidly. 

"  Can't  screw  the  planes  any  further !  "  cried  Tom. 

Oliphant  wrenched  at  the  lever ;  Tom  put  the  whole 
force  of  the  second  engine  upon  the  ascensional  screws; 
and  the  rapidity  of  descent  was  somewhat  checked. 
The  ravine  was  directly  beneath;  Tom  succeeded  in 
giving  the  vessel  a  last  forward  motion ;  then  it  came 
with  a  violent  bump  to  the  ground,  just  on  the  farther 
edge. 

"  Out !  Quick !  "  cried  Tom  to  Schwab,  who  was 
bemoaning  the  shock  he  had  suffered. 

When  all  three  stood  safe  on  the  ground,  Tom 
caught  hold  of  the  rails  of  the  car. 

"  I  made  it ;  Til  break  it ;  they  shan't,"  he  said,  and 
he  toppled  the  airship  over  into  the  gulf,  where  it  was 
smashed  to  atoms. 

Then,  with  Oliphant  at  his  side,  and  Schwab  labor- 
ing behind,  with  piteous  entreaties  that  they  would  not 
desert  him,  he  dashed  toward  the  cliff,  a  mile  away, 
beyond  which  was  the  sea. 


218 


CHAPTER    XVII 

COMPLIMENTS    AND    THANKS 

While  yet  in  the  air,  Tom  had  seen  a  boat  putting 
off  from  the  yacht.  The  vessel  itself  was  no  longer 
visible,  concealed  by  the  intervening  cliff;  but  the  top 
of  its  mast,  with  Mr.  Greatorex's  ensign  flying,  could 
just  be  seen.  Toward  this  Tom  led  the  way  at  full 
speed.  To  go  very  fast  was  impossible  over  the  rough 
ground,  but  moderate  as  the  pace  was  it  soon  began 
to  tell  upon  Schwab,  who  plunged  heavily  along,  trip- 
ping over  tussocks  of  coarse  grass  that  grew  here  and 
there  on  the  sandy  soil.  Fierce  pants  could  be  heard 
by  the  two  running  side  by  side  in  front  of  him, 
though,  in  spite  of  his  breathlessness,  he  managed  to 
give  utterance  every  now  and  again  to  agonizing  en- 
treaties that  the  others  would  not  desert  him.  Moved 
by  these,  and  remembering  the  German's  game  leg, 
the  others  waited  for  him,  and  catching  each  an  arm, 
hurried  him  along  between  them. 

Terror  lent  him  strength  and  speed  when  the  fore- 
most of  the  pursuers,  arriving  at  the  brink  of  the  ra- 
vine, which  at  that  point  they  were  unable  to  cross, 
began  to  fire  upon  the  fugitives.  Bullets  whistled 
past,  alarmingly  near,  and  Tom  and  Oliphant  instinct- 
ively released  Schwab's  arms  and  moved  apart,  so  as 

219 


KING  OF.  THE  AIR 

to  present  a  smaller  target  to  the  enemy.  Meanwhile 
some  of  the  Moors  had  galloped  up  the  bank  of  the 
ravine  in  search  of  a  crossing.  Glancing  round,  Tom 
was  concerned  to  see  that  these  horsemen  had  disap- 
peared ;  presumably  they  had  found  a  suitable  crossing- 
place,  and  would  soon  again  be  on  his  tracks.  In  a 
few  moments  they  reappeared  on  the  nearer  bank,  and 
set  off  at  a  gallop. 

The  Englishmen  were  now  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  shore,  Schwab  having  dropped  nearly  a 
hundred  yards  behind,  with  another  quarter-mile  be- 
tween him  and  the  horsemen.  There  could  be  little 
doubt  that  the  fugitives  would  be  overtaken  before 
they  reached  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  Even  if  they  con- 
trived to  scramble  down  they  might  be  snapped  up 
under  the  eyes  of  the  yacht's  crew,  should  the  boat 
not  have  arrived.  And  what  of  the  Moors  who  a  day 
or  two  ago,  when  Tom  left  the  place,  had  been  en- 
camped in  the  hollow  of  the  cliff?  Were  they  still 
there  ? 

The  question  was  answered  almost  as  it  occurred. 
Tom  suddenly  noticed  a  horseman  making  toward 
him  from  the  left,  followed  closely  by  a  dozen  others. 
It  was  with  a  gasp  of  amazement  that  he  recognized 
in  the  foremost  rider  no  other  than  Abdul.  He  came 
up  at  a  breakneck  pace,  sprang  from  his  horse,  and 
joined  himself  to  the  fugitives.  Immediately  after- 
ward the  Moors  were  upon  the  little  party.  Leaping 
from  their  horses  while  still  in  full  career,  they  threw 
themselves  upon  the  four,  and  though  Tom  and  Oli- 

220 


COMPLIMENTS  AND  THANKS 

phant  each  with  a  blow  from  his  fist  felled  a  man,  and 
Schwab  threatened  the  vengeance  of  the  Kaiser,  they 
were  overwhelmed  and  flung  to  the  ground. 

The  Moors  shouted  with  exultation,  their  cries  be- 
ing answered  jubilantly  by  the  horsemen  coming  up 
from  the  ravine.  They  were  beginning  to  bind  their 
captives;  but  before  a  single  knot  could  be  tied  there 
came  other  shouts  from  the  direction  of  the  sea. 

"  At  them,  men ;  bowl  'em  over !  " 

Surely  this  was  the  voice  of  Mr.  Greatorex.  A 
lusty  British  cheer  answered  him.  With  a  great  ef- 
fort Tom  threw  off  the  Moor  who  was  pinning  him 
down,  and  sprang  to  his  feet  in  time  to  see  a  dozen 
sturdy  seamen  rushing  from  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  The 
Moors  turned  at  bay,  but  nothing  could  withstand  the 
charge  of  the  British  tars,  wielding  their  clubbed  rifles 
like  flails.  In  a  few  seconds  half  of  the  Moors  were 
on  the  ground  with  more  or  less  broken  heads;  the 
rest  were  in  full  flight. 

But  the  other  troop  of  horsemen  was  now  not  more 
than  a  few  hundred  yards  distant.  At  a  word  from 
Captain  Bodgers  the  sailors  flung  themselves  face 
downward,  ready  to  deal  with  the  second  band. 

"  Aim  at  the  horses !  "  cried  Mr.  Greatorex,  as  he 
came  panting  up  in  the  rear  of  his  men,  and  flopped 
down  beside  them. 

A  scattered  volley  brought  half  a  dozen  of  the  ad- 
vancing horsemen  to  the  dust.  The  rest,  unable,  ow- 
ing to  the  rugged  uneven  ground,  to  see  with  what 
force  they  had  to  contend,  reined  up  and  hesitated. 

221 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

Another  volley  caused  them  to  draw  off  to  some  little 
distance,  where  they  formed  a  group  and  began  to  dis- 
cuss with  evident  disagreement  how  to  retrieve  this 
unexpected  check. 

"  Now  for  the  boat,  my  lads ! "  cried  Mr.  Great- 
orex. 

Up  sprang  the  men,  and  the  whole  body  made  a 
dash  down  the  cliff.  Before  the  Moors  had  agreed 
upon  their  course,  the  fugitives  were  half-way  down. 
Seeing  now  by  how  few  men  they  had  been  checked, 
the  Moors  came  after  them  at  full  speed.  But  by  the 
time  they  reached  the  edge  of  the  cliff  and  dismounted 
the  fugitives  were  at  the  bottom. 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  report  and  a  puff  of 
smoke  out  at  sea,  and  a  shot,  purposely  aimed  high, 
flew  over  the  cliff,  and  fell  a  little  to  the  rear  of  the 
Moors.  That  was  the  finishing  stroke.  Their  horses 
stampeded  and  dashed  straight  for  the  ravine,  the 
riders  in  wild  pursuit  behind  them.  Three  minutes 
afterward  Mr.  Greatorex  had  his  whole  party  in  the 
boat,  and  the  sailors,  with  a  final  rousing  cheer,  pulled 
for  the  yacht. 

Tom  saw  everything  in  a  mist  as  he  went  aboard. 
Worn  out  with  the  exertions  and  excitements  of  the 
past  few  days,  he  was  only  vaguely  conscious  of  being 
fussed  over,  and  treated,  as  he  said  afterward,  more 
or  less  as  a  baby.  He  was  put  to  bed,  slept  heavily 
for  several  hours,  and  awoke  with  a  most  exigent  hun- 
ger. The  yacht  was  in  motion.  He  rose,  bathed,  put 
on  some  clean  things,  and,  feeling  himself  again, 

222 


COMPLIMENTS  AND  THANKS 

thankfully  obeyed  Mr.  Greatorex's  hearty  call  to  din- 
ner. 

Around  the  well-spread  table  he  found  the  rest  of 
the  party  already  seated.  At  the  head  was  Mr.  Great- 
orex,  with  Sir  Mark  Ingleton  at  his  right ;  at  the  foot, 
Captain  Bodgers  with  Herr  Schwab.  The  German 
had  tucked  his  napkin  between  his  shirt  and  his  waist- 
coat, and  was  gazing  with  ecstatic  anticipation  through 
his  glasses  at  the  covered  entree  dishes  just  brought 
in  by  Timothy. 

Tom  was  taken  aback,  and  not  a  little  moved,  when 
Sir  Mark  Ingleton  rose  from  his  sea,t,  and,  grasping 
his  hand,  said: 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Dorrell.  I  have  heard  the  whole 
story  from  Mr.  Greatorex  and  your  Moorish  follower. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  speak  of  the  public  service  you 
have  rendered ;  personally,  I  owe  you  more  than  I  can 
say,  and  I  shall  never  forget  it." 

"  So ! "  chimed  in  Schwab,  rising  stiffly  from  his 
chair.  His  left  hand  gripped  his  fork;  his  right  en- 
veloped Tom's.  "  I  zank  you,  for  myself  personaliter, 
and  for  ze  Kaiser,  for  Schlagintwert,  and  for  Business. 
Fill  my  glass,  if  you  please,"  he  added  to  Timothy, 
whose  smile  instantly  changed  to  a  frown,  "  I  vish  to 
cry  '  Hoch ! '  No,  no,  not  too  full  for  ze  ship  moves, 
and  ze  champagne  vould  slop  over." 

Schwab's  intervention  came  in  the  nick  of  time  to 
relieve  Tom's  embarrassment. 

"  Come,  Tom,  my  dear  fellow,"  cried  Mr.  Great- 
orex, "  sit  down.  We  were  only  waiting  for  you." 

223 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"Where's  Oliphant?"  asked  Tom. 

"  H'm !  M'Cracken  is  at  the  furnace,"  replied  Mr. 
Greatorex. 

"  I  say !     That's  rough  luck !  "  said  Tom. 

"  It  is  by  his  own  wish.  I  did  violence  to  my 
sense  of  what  is  right  and  proper,  and  invited  him 
to  a  place  at  our  board.  He  showed,  I  must  say,  a 
commendable  sense  of  his  duty  in  the  matter.  *  I'm 
M'Cracken  and  your  stoker,  sir,'  he  said,  '  till  we  get 
back  to  England.' ' 

"  May  I  suggest,"  said  Sir  Mark  Ingleton,  "  that 
a  sense  of  the  unfitness  of  his  attire  also  weighed 
with  him  ?  " 

"We  can  soon  alter  that,"  said  Tom.  "He's 
about  my  build ;  I'll  go  and  rig  him  out  in  one  of  my 
suits." 

"  Ve  shall  not  vait  to  begin  ?  "  said  Schwab  anx- 
iously, holding  knife  and  fork  upright  on  the  table. 

"  Mr.  Oliphant  will  doubtless  pardon  us,"  replied 
Sir  Mark  blandly. 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  Tom  returned  with  Oliphant 
in  white  ducks  and  blue  serge. 

"  Still  is  zere  somezink  left,"  said  Schwab.  "  I 
feel  moch  better,  zough  I  vish  ze  table  vould  not  move. 
Do  not  fill  your  glass  quite  full,  sir ;  it  vould  slop  over, 
and  zat  vould  be  pity." 

"  Where's  Abdul?  "  asked  Tom,  as  he  sat  down. 

"With  the  men,  forward,"  said  Mr.  Greatorex. 

"  That's  all  right.     I'm  jolly  glad  he  got  off  safely." 

"A  most  intelligent  youth,"  said  Sir   Mark.     "It 
224 


COMPLIMENTS  AND  THANKS 

appears  that  he  rode  straight  into  the  village  of 
Salaam  son  of  Absalaam  with  aa  urgent  demand  for 
assistance  from  the  sheik  of  Ain  Afroo.  He  was 
leading  a  party  of  Moors  in  that  direction  when  un- 
luckily a  genuine  messenger  from  the  sheik  arrived. 
Abdul  wheeled  about  and  galloped  for  the  shore,  with 
the  rest  at  his  heels,  as  you  saw." 

"  Shust  in  time,"  said  Schwab.  "  Vun  moment 
after  and  I  am  no  more." 

"  I  haven't  heard  your  story  yet,  sir,"  said  Tom  to 
the  envoy. 

"  Story,  bless  you,  I  have  none  to  tell.  I  was  on 
my  way  to  Marrakesh,  where  the  Sultan  was  at  the 
time,  and  was  indiscreet  enough  one  evening  to  leave 
my  camp  for  a  stroll  with  only  one  attendant.  I  was 
snapped  up,  enveloped  in  a  djellab,  and  conveyed  on 
horseback  —  to  my  great  discomfort  —  to  the  sheik's 
kasbah.  There  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  Mr. 
Schwab,  whose  conversation,  together  with  a 
Schlagintwert  price-list  and  a  copy  of  the  Daily  Mail, 
helped  to  lighten  the  tedium  of  my  captivity." 

"  I  zank  you,  Sir  Ingleton,"  said  Schwab.  "  Al- 
vays  do  I  vish  to  be  useful.  Utile  et  duke.  You  vill 
not  forget  vat  I  say  about  extra-special  discount  to  ze 
nobility  and  gentry  ?  And  I  hear  viz  surprise,  sir,"  he 
added  to  Oliphant,  "  zat  you  are  son  of  a  lord.  Viz 
gompliments !  " 

He  handed  Oliphant  a  card  from  his  case. 

"  Much  obliged,"  said  Oliphant,  kicking  Tom  under 
the  table.  "  How  did  they  get  hold  of  you?  " 

22$ 


KING  OF  THE  AIR 

"  Vy,  I  tell  you.  I  come  to  Rabat  to  buy  great  lot 
of  carpets  for  Schlagintwert.  Zere  I  hear  zat  ze 
Sultan  is  at  Marrakesh,  and  I  zink  I  shall  visit  him. 
I  egzpect  big  order  for  alarm  clocks  and  bianola.  Zat 
vill  be  good  business.  Ach!  vat  know  ze  Moors  of 
business?  Zey  seize  me;  zey  care  nozink  ven  I  say  I 
am  Jarman  sobjeck;  zey  understand  nozink  ven  I 
s.peak  of  our  Kaiser  who  is  in  Berlin ;  and  so  am  I  shut 
opp.  I  smoke  all  my  tobacco;  zere  is  no  more.  I 
read  2e  Daily  Mail,  and  zink  ven  I  gontemblate  ze  ad- 
vertisement vat  colossal  business  is  literature  in  Eng- 
land. I  read  Schlagintwert's  price-list,  and  make 
notes  for  new  edition;  alas!  zat  muss  all  be  done 
again.  Zen  I  do  nozink  but  zink  profound,  until  Sir 
Ingleton  come  and  ve  study  ze  list  togezer." 

"An  experience  I  shall  always  cherish,  believe  me, 
Mr.  Schwab,"  said  Sir  Mark. 

"  I  zank  you,  sir.  Ze  pleasure  vas  mutual ;  ze 
profit  shall  be  Schlagintwert's." 

"  But  how  was  it  you  were  put  in  the  dungeons?  " 
asked  Tom. 

"  Vy,  I  tell  you.  Vun  day  come  ze  sheik  viz  his 
men.  Zink  I,  now  has  arrive  ze  Kaiser's  telegram. 
But  no;  zey  carry  us  down  to  ze  deps,  and  zere  are 
ve  shut  opp  vorse  zan  before ! " 

'  That  was  when  they  got  the  message  from  Sal- 
athiel  ben  Ezra,  no  doubt,"  said  Tom,  "  —  the  Jew 
you  found  in  the  cave,  Mr.  Schwab." 

"  Ven  I  vas  so  hungry !  " 

"  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  him  ?  "  said  Oli- 
226 


phant.  "  It's  to  him  I  owe  the  keenest  sport  I've  ever 
had." 

"  The  less  said  about  that  the  better,  M'C  —  I  beg 
your  pardon  —  Mr.  Oliphant.  The  man  was  a  vil- 
lain. I  said  so,  Tom.  Timothy  will  have  a  scar 
for  the  rest  of  his  days.  And  but  for  the  Jew  we 
shouldn't  have  lost  our  airship.  Not  that  that  mat- 
ters. We've  proved  it,  you  know;  we'll  build  a 
larger  one  now." 

"  And  Schlagintwert's  shall  buy  it  cost  price ! " 

"  No,  sir,  Schlagintwert's  shall  not  buy  it,"  said 
Mr.  Greatorex,  frowning  severely  on  the  German. 
"  We  will  offer  it  to  the  Government.  I  shall  invite 
Colonel  Capper  to  examine  it,  and  Lord  Langside, 
I  trust,  will  show  himself  sufficiently  sensible  of  his 
obligation  to  us  to  make  no  difficulties  about  the  price" 

"  Veil,  Schlagintwert  shall  have  colossal  order  for 
Photographic  Sensitizer  Preparation  Number  Six  — 
at  least  until  ze  var  come." 

"What  war?" 

"Vy,  ze  var  ven  ze  Kaiser  shall  zink  it  is  time  to 
teach  ze  vorld  zat  —  " 

"  Stay,  Mr.  Schwab,"  interrupted  Sir  Mark,  "  we 
must  not  be  indiscreet.  As  a  diplomatist  it  is  my 
duty  to  avert  war ;  as  a  business  man  you,  I  am  sure, 
would  deplore  it." 

"  So.  Zat  is  shust  vat  I  alvays  say :  zat  is  vat  I 
go  to  say  ven  you  interrupt  me;  ven  ze  Kaiser  shall 
zink  it  is  time  to  teach  ze  vorld  zat  Business  are  Busi- 
ness!" 

THE    END 


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